PIMSPontifical Institute
of
Mediaeval Studies

Have you come across any lists or enumerations in your texts recently and wondered how to come to terms with these passages?

Premodern texts of all genres abound with lists: epic catalogues, genealogies, lists of people, animals, places, and things, inventories, rolls, litanies, indices, and many more. The premodern ubiquity of lists has been discarded as a “typically medieval impulse” (Muscatine) and has received surprisingly little attention by scholars. Lists and enumerations often leave us with a feeling of discomfort as modern aesthetics has shifted away from the appreciation of enumerative forms. What happens, though, if we take the form of the list seriously and approach it as a device in its own right that affords a wide range of functions? That is the aim of this two-hour workshop. Each participant is invited to bring an example of a list or lists from a primary text that s/he thinks interesting, challenging, difficult, boring or baffling! At the workshop, each contributor will be asked to offer a brief introduction to their list and its context before we discuss it together.

If you would like to participate, please contact Eva directly (eva.voncontzen@utoronto.ca)