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CONFERENCE FOR PHD STUDENTS AND EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS: ANATOMIES OF ANOMALY TRAJECTORIES OF DEFORMITY ACROSS LITERATURE, PERFORMANCE, AND CLINICAL DISCOURSE

ANATOMIES OF ANOMALY

URL: https://www.fabula.org/actualites/135373/anatomies-de-l-anomalie-trajectoires-de-la-difformite-entre-litterature-scene-et-clinique.html
Event Date: 2026-11-26 ~ 2026-11-27
Abstract Submission Date: 2026-08-15
Submission Date: 2026-08-15
Location: Firenze, Italy

French Studies History Humanities, Literature & Arts (General) Drama & Theater Arts English Language & Literature Epistemology & Scientific History

“[...]anomal ne signifie autre chose qu’insolite, inaccoutumé. On doit donc entendre d’une

manière générale, par un être anomal, un être qui s’éloigne par son organisation de la grande

majorité des êtres auxquels il doit être comparé[...]”

(Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, Histoire générale et particulière des anomalies chez les

hommes et les animaux, 1837)

Conceived as the concluding conference of the PRIN project Tea-Med – Theatre and Medicine, Anatomies of Anomaly: Trajectories of Deformity across Literature, Performance, and Clinical Discourse aims to explore the category of the anomalous through its historical, cultural, medical, literary, and performative articulations.

Drawing on the definition formulated by Isidore Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire — for whom the anomalous coincides with that which appears “unusual” or “uncommon,” removed from the majority of bodies and forms deemed regular — the conference aims to expand this category to encompass everything that exceeds normative paradigms, escapes fixed classifications, and resists the systems of control to which it is subjected.

In this sense, the anomalous does not merely designate bodily or physiological deformity, but also every form of alterity that destabilises the boundaries of the familiar: identities perceived as eccentric in relation to dominant models; female subjectivities that exceed or subvert historically imposed social and cultural roles; linguistic, narrative, and textual singularities; excluded or marginalised voices; experiences of madness, trauma, and disability; subversive literary and editorial practices; and bodies and minds that challenge the very notion of “normality”.

As Rosemarie Garland Thomson observes, “The unexpected body fires rich, if anxious, narratives and practices that probe the contours and boundaries of what we take to be human” (Freakery, 1). The conference therefore aims to interrogate those forms of representation, narration, and discourse that have contributed — and continue to contribute — to destabilising and reshaping the category of the human itself; discourses, cultural practices, and modes of knowledge that challenge the boundaries of the representable, the intelligible, and the normative.

From this perspective, the conference seeks to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue among scholars working in the history of medicine, literary and linguistic studies, theatre and performance studies, disability studies, gender studies, queer studies, philosophy, psychoanalysis, cultural history, visual arts, and related fields.

Particular attention will be devoted to theatre as a privileged site for the exhibition, negotiation, and representation of anomaly: a space in which the deformed, pathological, eccentric, or marginal body is observed, medicalised, spectacularised, or rewritten through new narrative and political possibilities.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• The monstrous body: teratology, eugenics, and studies of physical alterity

• Anomalous minds: madness, trauma, and psycho-physical pathologies

• Disability as anomaly: historical, social, and medical representations of disability

• Gendered anomaly: queer bodies, performativity, and non-normative identities

• Anomaly as social role: disguise, cross-dressing, and the subversion of gender norms

• Spectacles of anomaly: freak shows, circuses, and fairs

• Anomalous language: linguistic, narrative, dramaturgical, and textual anomalies

• The anomalous as archive: case studies, medical documentation, archival gaps, and recording practices

• The anomalous as a tool of social control: medicalisation, marginalisation, and the disciplining of bodies

• Disturbing anomalies: the grotesque, the pathological, and the uncanny

• Anomalous performances: voice, gesture, stage presence, and eccentric corporeality

• The anomalous in visual and media cultures: visual arts, cinema, media, and performance

• Anomalous spaces: ecologies, environments, and landscapes of deformity

• Spiritual anomalies: possession, ecstasy, and altered states

• The anomalous beyond the human: posthumanism, alterity, and the redefinition of the norm

• Anomalous societies: non-Eurocentric cultural practices and social structures

Submission Guidelines

The conference welcomes contributions spanning all historical periods and geographical contexts, with a particular emphasis on comparative and interdisciplinary approaches.

The call for papers is open to PhD students and early career researchers interested in contributing to the conference discussion.

Proposals, in Italian, English, or French, must be submitted by 15 August 2026 to convegnoanomalie.unifi@gmail.com.

Submissions should be sent as a .pdf or .docx file named “Surname_AnatomiesConference” and must include the title, an abstract (maximum 300 words), 5 keywords, 5-7 bibliographical references relevant to the proposed topic and a short bio-bibliographical note (maximum

150 words).

Authors are also required to specify their institutional affiliation, disciplinary field, and the language of their presentation (Italian, English, or French).

All proposals will be evaluated by the Scientific Committee. Notification of acceptance will be communicated by 30 September 2026.

Each speaker will have 20 minutes for their presentation.

The conference will take place in person on Thursday 26 and Friday 27 November 2026 at the University of Florence. Further details regarding the venue and conference programme will be provided upon confirmation of participation.

Participation in the conference is free of charge and accommodation expenses for one night will be reimbursed. Participants are responsible for their own meals and travel costs.

Key Dates

• Submission deadline: 15 August 2026

• Notification of acceptance: 30 September 2026

• Conference: 26-27 November 2026

Contacts

For further information, please contact: convegnoanomalie.unifi@gmail.com.

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CONFERENCE FOR PHD STUDENTS AND EARLY CAREER RESEARCHERS: ANATOMIES OF ANOMALY TRAJECTORIES OF DEFORMITY ACROSS LITERATURE, PERFORMANCE, AND CLINICAL DISCOURSE

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