Sports and Sociability in the Long Eighteenth Century
Sorbonne Université, 13-14 October 2022
Conference organized by Caroline Bertonèche (Université Grenoble Alpes) and Alexis Tadié (Sorbonne University) in the framework of the H2020 DIGITENS project.
Supported by the Université Grenoble Alpes, Sorbonne Université, the GIS Sociabilités and the SERA (Société d'Études du Romantisme Anglais).
This conference will investigate the intricate relationships between sports and literature and the arts in the long eighteenth century. Sports are a particular good place to reflect on sociability, while the cultural approach enables an understanding of sports which goes beyond their history. We understand the place of sports in our societies if we look at their cultural representations and at the work they do.
PROGRAMME:
Thursday 13 October
9:45: Welcome and opening remarks
10:00: PLENARY LECTURE
Simon BAINBRIDGE (Lancaster University): A group… of apparently aerial beings’: Sociability on the British Summit in the Long Eighteenth Century
11:30: First session: Outdoors, Sociability and Individuality
CHAIR: Kimberley PAGE-JONES (Université de Bretagne Occidentale)
11:30-12:00
Meiko O’HALLORAN (Newcastle University): Scaling Ben Nevis: Keats Among the Clouds
12:00-12:30
Claire WROBEL (Université Paris-Panthéon-Assas): Between Solitude and Sociability : Mountaineering in Ann Radcliffe's The Romance of the Forest (1791)
12.30-13.00: Discussion
14:00: Second session: Building Sociability through Sports
CHAIR: Marc PORÉE (École normale supérieure-PSL)
14:00-14:30
Benjamin JACKSON (University of Birmingham): ‘The Gentleman Sportsman’: Blood Sports, Sociability, and Materiality in Eighteenth-Century England
14:30-15:00
Valérie CAPDEVILLE (Université Sorbonne-Paris-Nord): Sports and Outdoor Recreation in Early American Clubs: Horse-Racing, Angling and Fox-Hunting Practices in Colonial Maryland and Pennsylvania
15:00-15:30
Alexis TADIÉ (Sorbonne Université): Of Rivers and Swimming in the Long Eighteenth Century
15:30-16:30: Discussion
19.30: Conference Dinner at La Ferrandaise (8, rue de Vaugirard, Paris 6e)
Friday 14 October
10:00: Third session: Animality, Violence, and the Social Worlds of Sports
CHAIR: Marion AMBLARD (Université Grenoble Alpes)
10:00-10:30
Mike HUGGINS (University of Cumbria): Changing Attitudes to the Non-Human Animal World : the Case of Cock-Fighting
11:00-11:30
Kimberley PAGE-JONES (Université de Bretagne Occidentale) & Pierre LABRUNE (VALE): Boxing and the Fancy: Violence Tamed and Aestheticized (1780-1815)
11:30-12:00
John C. WHALE (University of Leeds): Pugilism in the Regency: Popularity and Cultural Appropriation
12:00-12:30: Discussion
12:30: Lunch at Le Paradis des amis (72 rue Gay-Lussac, Paris 5e)
14:00: Fourth session: Sports and Romanticism
CHAIR: Meiko O’HALLORAN (Newcastle University)
14:00-14:30
Andreas KRAMER (Goldsmiths, University of London): Luminous Streams, Precipitous Rocks: Perspectives on Sport in German Romanticism
14:30-15:00
Marc PORÉE (École normale supérieure-PSL): Wordsworth, Keats, Byron: Sport or No Sport?
15:00-15:30: Discussion
16:00: Caroline BERTONÈCHE (Université Grenoble Alpes): Introducing the Virtual Museum RÊVE. Special collection: On Romantic Sports. Fencing Familiarized
16:30: Alexis TADIÉ (Sorbonne Université)
Introducing the Database AGON: On Quarrels and Controversies
17:00 Kimberley PAGE-JONES (UBO) & Valérie CAPDEVILLE (Sorbonne-Paris-Nord)
Introducing the Digital Encyclopedia DIGITENS: On British Sociability in the Long 18th Century
18:00: Closing drinks
19:00: End of the conference

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