Bonaparte’s invasion of Egypt in 1798 sparked what has come to be known as ‘Egyptomania’, an intense fascination for ancient Egypt that permeated the cultural imagination in the late eighteenth century and beyond. Since this moment, across the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, subsequent ‘waves’ of interest in ancient Egypt have seen the history and iconography of this civilisation drawn upon for all varieties of purposes.
The editors seek essays addressing engagements with the culture of ancient Egypt from the late eighteenth century to the present day. From Parisian graveyards decorated with winged solar discs, to tales of mummies’ curses appearing in periodicals and newspapers; glitzy strip-teases of the fin de siècle, to Hollywood blockbusters of the twentieth century; this project aims to unite essays on a variety of aspects of ancient Egypt in the cultural imagination in order to explore and investigate the driving forces behind the fascination that these myriad forms embody.
Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:
- Factual or fictional literature
- Travel writing and illustration
- Memoir
- Journalism
- Art
- Photography
- Architecture and landscapes
- Theatre
- Material culture
- Popular culture, film, TV, music, fashion
- Representations of Egyptology
- Gender
- Race
- Religion, spiritualism and occultism
- Orientalism
Abstracts should be 500 words in length, should emphasise content, argument, sources, and how the existing literature is being built upon, and should be accompanied by four or five keywords. These, along with a short biographical note, should be sent by 16 January 2017 to teawiththesphinx@gmail.com. Completed essays will be expected by 1 May 2017.
For more information visit the project blog, teawiththesphinx.wordpress.com