RUSSIAN INSTITUTE OF THEATRE ARTS – GITIS,

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY, PHILOSOPHY, LITERATURE

ASSOCIATION FOR THE STUDY OF ESOTERICISM AND MYSTICISM

12th international conference

Mystical and Esoteric Teachings in Theory and Practice:

Esotericism in Philosophy, Literature, and Art

February 3 – 5, 2022

Moscow

First Call for Papers

Esoteric doctrines existed throughout history, but they were especially prominent during the collapse of established and creation of new systems of spiritual values reflecting a desire to reform daily life, social structure, and paradigms of knowledge. Historical periods that were full of creativity were also marked by a turn to mysticism and esotericism.

Art is not limited by logic. It receives inspiration from many sources, including mysticism, magic, sacred rituals. European theater begins with a cult of Dionysus and Eleusinian Mysteries. Poetry is close to ancient hymns and spells. Music, dance, singing were parts of esoteric practices. Drawing developed in part because of a belief that images can affect animals. History of architecture is also full of unsolved mysteries. Literature incorporated sacred knowledge of Gnosticism, hermeticism, and other esoteric currents. Esotericism is present in esthetics of Romanticism, Modernism, and Postmodernism. In the twentieth and the twenty-first centuries cinema, TV, and the Internet became new mediums for esoteric ideas. Intersections between philosophy and esotericism are also deep and worth of exploration.

The goal of the conference is to explicate mystical and esoteric elements in literature and art, to reflect on previously neglected new aspects in the history of the “secret knowledge,” to discuss possible implications of the study of esotericism to art history and literary history, to analyze social and psychological reasons for the popularity of movies, TV-shows, and literature about witches, vampires, magicians, and so on.

We invite art historians, scholars interested in the history of literature, philosophers, historians, culturologists, specialists in religious studies, psychologists, sociologists, and scholars of esotericism.

Conference will take place in dual format (online and offline).

Suggested topics:

• intersections between languages of poetry and magic;
• alchemical and philosophical reflections in literature and art;
• Freemasonry in literature and art;
• esoteric metalanguage and traditions in literature and art;
• mysteries and the origins of theatre arts;
• magical codes of musical harmony;
• Theosophic and Anthroposophical influence in literature and art;
• historical transformations of esoteric art;
• mystical and esoteric images in contemporary art;
• philosophical analysis of esoteric tendencies in literature and art;
• postmodernism and occultism;
• esotericism in cinema and television.

Languages of the conference: Russian and English.

Applications should be sent to esoterra.asem@gmail.com. Deadline for participants from Russia is December 25, 2021. Deadline for international participants is November 30, 2021. An application should be filled in Russian and English for participants presenting in Russian and in English for participants presenting in English.

1. Full name
2. Degree
3. City and country
4. Affiliation
5. Position
6. E-mail
7. Do you need an official invitation?
8. Do you need a certificate of participation?
9. Do you need a projector?
10. Title
11. Summary
12. Language
13. A photo up to 2 Mb in size

An organizing committee will make a decision concerning an application in a week after its submission. The decision will be communicated to an applicant via e-mail. The organizing committee reserves a right to reject an application. Unfortunately, we cannot provide written reviews for applicants whose applications were rejected.

A program of the conference will be prepared and distributed by the beginning of the conference.

We are planning to publish a collection of conference papers. Participants can submit papers up to 25.000 characters before March 5, 2022. Author guidelines will be distributed after the conference among the speakers.

The organizing committee does not provide funding for conference participants.

If you have any questions, please, e-mail to esoterra.asem@gmail.com.

The conference will take place at Russian Institute of Theatre Arts – GITIS. Address: Moscow, Maly Kislovsky Lane, 6 (map: https://gitis.net/en/contacts/).

Organizing committee:

Dr. V. I. Krasikov (Russia, Moscow)

Dr. E. V. Shakhmatova (Russia, Moscow)

Dr. A. L. Yastrebov (Russia, Moscow)

Dr. S. V. Pakhomov (Russia, Saint Petersburg)

Dr. D. D. Galtsin (Russia, Saint Petersburg)

Dr. S. Panin (USA, Houston)

Dr. Prof. B. Menzel (Germany, Karlsruhe – Meinz)