DOT 2022 Conference – Call for papers

From 12th to 17th September 2022, the 34th Deutscher Orientalistentag will be held in Berlin: https://dot2022.de/call-for-papers/ .

The ERC DHARMA project organises a panel in the section “Indologie und Südasienkunde”.
The topic of the panel is “Self-Representation and Presentation of Others in Epigraphical Writing”. Please see the abstract below. All those interested in contributing to this panel with a paper are kindly requested to contact Annette Schmiedchen (annette.schmiedchen@hu-berlin.de).

The deadline for the registration and submission of the paper abstracts to the DOT organisation committee is 31st December 2021.

_Abstract_: The majority of pre-modern inscriptions (on stone and copper plates) from South and Southeast Asia are inaugurative and donative records. Frequently, these epigraphs contain panegyric passages describing the kings and their dynasties, the donors and their families, as well as religious figures and their lineages. Such eulogies of the rulers and their ancestors are in most cases not factual “self-portrayals”, yet they project an image of authenticity and authority inasmuch as they are often said to be compositions of named court officials and royal copper-plate charters bear a seal and/or an imitated signature of the king. The panegyric descriptions do not only contain “self-representations”, but also “presentations of others”: the records of rulers can include eulogies of their subordinates, and vice versa, the inscriptions of subordinate rulers frequently include laudatory depictions of their overlords. Many eulogies contain descriptions of adversaries – intra-dynastic rivals as well as enemies from other dynasties. The presentations of opponents were used as a kind of backdrop for the “self-representations”. The panel will investigate the specific forms and features of “Selbstdarstellung” vs. “Fremddarstellung” in a range of epigraphic texts from South and Southeast Asia, focussing on political ideology as well as on patronage policy. Participants should feel encouraged to pay particular attention to the description of intra-dynastic rivalries and rivalries between dynasties as well as to comparisons of “self-representation” of rulers/dynasties with the depiction of the same kings in the records of their adversaries.