Heroic Narratives and the Reshaping of History: a Comparative Perspective

In bringing together scholars from a wide range of disciplines, this conference aims to investigate how history was constantly rewritten and renegotiated through traditions of heroic literature in the pre-modern world.

The speakers will address myth, memory, and mimesis as narrative tools in heroic tales and discuss the significance of these tools within their sociopolitical contexts.

The cross-disciplinary approach will provide a comparative perspective for the utilization of heroic narratives as a means of cultural maintenance, and a reaction to oppression, conflict, and acculturation.

The varieties of case studies will provide the basis for discussing the narrative strategies by which sociopolitical realities are reflected in the literary traditions and the degree to which such strategies are universal or culture-specific.

Further information about the conference

Registration is free and open until 1 June 2015.