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Women and Speed

Women and Speed

Publié le par Alexandre Gefen (Source : Suzanne Hobson et Céline Magot)

Women and Speed

Journée d’études / Symposium

14th December 2012, at the Université Toulouse 2 (France)

Organisers: Suzanne Hobson (Queen Mary, University of London) and Céline Magot (Université de Toulouse, UTM, CAS)

This conference aims at exploring the relation between women and speed in its literary, artistic, historical, social and cultural manifestations.

Among the possible topics linked to this subject, contributors could consider women’s representation as users of forms of transport such as the car, motorbike, bicycle or the aeroplane. They might also address women’s visibility in advertising campaigns for fast vehicles. Did new forms of rapid transportation increase women’s independence and widen their horizons as for example in the case of women pilots during WWII? Or are women generally excluded from fast-paced lifestyles and pursuits such as racing and flying as these appear in modern art and literature? What role did women play in artistic and literary movements, such as Futurism, which took speed as part of their inspiration and subject matter? And to what extent do they appear especially adaptable or resilient to the accelerated pace of life and the instantaneous means of communication which have preoccupied writers and thinkers from the early decades of the 20th century up to now? Towards the end of the 19th century improved technology meant that for the first time photographers and film makers were able to capture bodies in rapid motion. What role did women play in this development? How do they use these speeding bodies within their own scientific and creative work?

 

Please submit an abstract of 250-300 words to both organisers before 2nd May.

contact: celine.magot@univ-tlse2.fr and s.hobson@qmul.ac.uk