Occultism and Popular Culture in Europe
To launch the research program for the newly formed Dark Arts Research Group: Studies in Gothic, Horror and the Occult, 1750-Present in the Department of English, Germanic and Romance Studies at the University of Copenhagen, there will be a two-day hybrid conference between 22 November and 23 November 2023 titled: ‘Occultism and Popular Culture in Europe.’
The aim is to explore the many ways that horror, gothic and occultic topics have been communicated, presented, and packaged for broad audiences from the late eighteenth century to today. We are especially interested in the ways different kinds of media technology, ranging from print and woodcut illustrations to photography and film have shaped conceptions of horror, gothic and the occult.
We are delighted to have two fantastic keynote speakers lined up for the event: Mathias Clasen, Aarhus University; and Richard Noakes, University of Exeter.
In-person attendance
Please sign up for in-person attendance at the conference.
Registration for in-person attendance ends on 31 October.
Online attendance
To register for the online part of the conference on 23 November, please use the following link: https://forms.office.com/e/q9Cagxn0p6
There has been a long cultural fascination with the macabre, horrific, and downright creepy across European society. From the early popular novels of writers such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), and the incredible visual spectacles of fairground phantasmagoria, to the growth of professional mediumship from the mid 1800s onward, and the telepathic radio experiments of the early twentieth century, Europeans have been entranced by all things spooky and ghoulish. The nineteenth century in particular was a tumultuous age of transformation, where conceptions of reality unraveled before people’s eyes. Media and technology unleashed a phantasmagoric panorama of alternate realities, and the specter of invisible agents. Interpretations and encounters at the margins of common understanding of how naturalistic and technological systems work fostered beliefs, superstitions, and myths. The ethereal presence of communications without bodies suggested the possibility of supernatural forces at play. It was within this ever-changing social climate that interests in the occult, the gothic, the extraordinary, and the horrible flourished.
So much of the popular conversations surrounding the rise and growth of occultic media during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries connected to debates surrounding human belief, perception, trust, and the standards of scientific evidence. Stories about exposure and fraud were rife within this context. These issues continue to remain important in our modern age when media sensationalism is so endemic. To a certain extent, a study of popular occulture in Europe around the turn of the twentieth century, and the ways in which practitioners and challengers manipulated new media technologies to present carefully crafted stories to broad publics, links to our own contemporary discussions in the twenty-first century about media deception and fake news. A study of the rise of popular occulture in Europe, therefore, provides important historical lessons for understanding the continued surgency of media misperception that is rampant today.
Day 1: Wednesday 22 November 2023
8:45 AM - 9:30 AM | Registration |
9:30 AM - 9:45 AM | Welcome Address with Robert Rix |
9:45 AM - 11:00 AM: Session 1 |
Efram Sera-Shriar, University of Copenhagen
Emma Merkling, Durham University/Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art
Sam Houlberg, University of Cambridge
|
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM | Coffee Break |
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM: Session 2 |
Martin Babička, University of Oxford / Czech Institute of Contemporary History
Jennifer Cooke, Newcastle University
Gennaro Ambrosino, University of Warwick
Tim Rudbøg, University of Copenhagen
|
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM | Lunch |
2:00 PM - 3:30 PM: Session 3 |
Eleonora Paklons, University of Antwerp
Hannah Welslau, University of Antwerp
Thibaut Rioult, University of Antwerp
Kurt Vanhoutte, University of Antwerp
|
3:30 PM - 3:45 PM | Coffee Break |
3:45 PM - 4:45 PM: Keynote 1 |
Mathias Clasen, Aarhus University
|
5:00 PM - 6:30 PM |
Wine Reception |
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM |
Conference Dinner |
Day 2: Thursday 23 November 2023
8:45 AM - 9:30 AM | Registration |
9:30 AM - 9:45 AM | Welcome Address with Efram Sera-Shriar |
9:45 AM - 11:00 AM: Session 4 |
Robert Rix, University of Copenhagen
Daniel Ogden, Uppsala University
Daniela Lindfors, University of Cambridge
|
11:00 AM - 11:30 AM | Coffee Break |
11:30 AM - 1:00 PM: Session 5 |
Catherine van Reenen, University of Manitoba
Jens Erik Mogensen, University of Copenhagen
Matthew L. Tompkins, Lund University
Kristof Smeyers, University of Antwerp
|
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM | Lunch |
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM: Keynote 2 |
Richard Noakes, University of Exeter
|
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM | Coffee Break |
3:30 PM - 4:30 PM: Online Lightning Talks 1 |
Janette Leaf, Birkbeck, University of London
Tom Graham, Birkbeck, University of London
Avery Curran, Birkbeck, University of London
Maria Vara, Athens School of Fine Arts
|
4:30 PM - 4:45 PM | Coffee Break |
4:45 PM - 5:30 PM: Online Lightning Talks 2 |
Miranda Ruth Larsen, University of Tokyo
Serena Keshavjee, University of Winnipeg
Emily Vincent, Durham University
|
5:30 PM - ONWARD |
Post-Conference Drinks at Bar |
Funding
The event is funded by a research grant from CEMES at the University of Copenhagen.
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