WRITING THE TRANSCENDENTAL
Expressions of faith and narratives of religion in egodocuments
The notion of egodocuments is relatively young and was formulated in the fifties of the 20th century by a Dutch scholar Jacob Presser. Since the 1980s, it has become more popular and the circle of users and researchers of egodocuments keeps growing. In particular, the term refers to documents written about oneself and usually, albeit not always, contain the particle “I”.
Diverse topics related to the study of egodocuments have been the subject of workshops, publications, and conferences. One of the interesting phenomena connected with egodocuments is the presence and presentation of faith, belief, and religion in these sources. These would include daily reflections, diaries, spiritual letters, etc.
The Institute of History at Jagiellonian University in Kraków, together with the Filip Friedman Centre for Jewish Studies, Institute of History at the University of Lodz in cooperation with the International Egodocumental Network invite proposals of papers to be presented at a conference devoted to the “Writing of the Transcendental in egodocuments”.
The conference aims to address topics connected with the presenting of religious experiences, religious emotions, narratives of alien religions, and rituals in egodocuments in the early modern period (late fifteenth to early nineteenth century).
Topics covered at the conference may include, but are not limited to:
We expect to hold a two-three-day conference at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland on 12-14 March 2026. Language of the conference is English.
Please send a 250 word proposal with a short cv to Jakub Basista and Michael Green by 31 October 2025. You will be notified about the acceptance of papers within one month of the deadline (no later than the end of November 2025).
We expect the conference fee to be around 100 Euros. The fee will cover conference materials, coffee breaks, lunches, and a reception. Unfortunately, we do not have funds to help with travel and lodging.
A collective volume is aimed at being published based on a selection of papers presented at the conference with one of the leading academic publishers (Brill).
