The 11th ESHS – European Society for the History of Science Conference, that will take place in Barcelona, between 4-7 September, will have a symposium devoted to Science, Technology, Arts, and Literature.
Dialogues between Science, Technology, Arts and Literature
Science and technology have always used art and literature in several ways: as a source of information, ways of building, setting and wide spreading narratives and representations, as well as ideas and making them prevail. Narratives and representations that change according to the development of scientific and technological knowledge and the very heritage that it generates and is associated with. But they also change in accordance with the space and time in which they are produced, being (re)constructed, destroyed, replaced, adapted, or confronted depending on prevailing or emerging agendas, be they ideological, political, social, economic, cultural, ethnic, ageist, sexual or gender based.
But are we, the ones engaged with different forms of science and technology fully aware of this reality? Literary and artistic contexts influence the construction of archaeological narratives and representations, throughout time? How have different literary and artistic contexts influenced the construction of scientific and technological narratives and representations over time? In what ways do these same narratives and representations contribute to underpin agendas (including scientific, personal, and institutional, public, and private), while breaking paradigms and prejudices (namely sexual, gender, ethnic, class and ageist)? What is the nature and scope of this ongoing dialogue between science, technology, art, and literature? How does this constant interweaving (i)materialise? Who dictates, feeds, and manages it? To what end(s)? And what about the creative freedom of the author, whether artistic or literary, where and how does it remain? How are narratives – written and iconographic – constructed from science and technology? How to make scientific knowledge reach different types of audiences? And what space do the new social realities – migratory, nomadic, etc. – occupy in this increasingly interwoven complex?
This is a vast set of questions to which we seek to answer during this session. We therefore invite scientists from different fields and geographies, historians of science and technology, as well as historians of women and gender, art and audiovisual historians, anthropologists, illustrators, and all those dedicated to the relationship between science, technology, art, and literature embodied in different media, education and instruction, from school textbooks to museums, through social networks and digital platforms, to join us.
Submission Information – Deadline: 20 December 2023
Please email acmartins@uevora.pt and edebeus01@qub.ac.uk with the following information:
- Name
- Affiliation
- Title of presentation
- Abstract (max 250 words)
- Short bio (max 50 words)
- Researcher identifier (ex. ORCID / ISNI/ VIAF / Other)
- Obs.: In case of multiple contributors please enlist all the contributors’ information. The first name should be the corresponding contributor.
