Chanelle Dupuis (Brown University)
How do authors describe the sensory reality of war? What are the sounds of war, the smells of war (the textures, visuals, taste of war)? How are these described and how do they differ? These are questions that remain of interest to historians and literary scholars as we try to understand past events and representations of violence and conflict. From world wars to the war on climate change, our relationship with bodies and spaces is shifting and the sensorium carries these shifts. This panel is looking for abstracts interested in the senses and war across mediums (film, texts, art), whether these represent real or imagined conflicts. As sensory studies grows as an interdisciplinary field, our understanding of moments of violence and methods of sensory power and control is still evolving. The goal of this panel is to investigate more deeply the relationship between the senses and war (violence, conflict, power, control) and to understand how moments of shifting realities evoke particular sensorial descriptions and why such descriptions matter. Research drawing on pre-war and post-war sensory descriptions is also welcome.