The workshop proposes an exploration of Jewish metaphors of the female body across a broad temporal and textual spectrum – from the Talmud to contemporary Jewish literature. The conference does not seek to trace a linear historical evolution; rather, it aims to highlight the multiplicity of representations, shifting functions and interpretive frameworks through which female bodies have been imagined. These range from holistic and utilitarian conceptions—for example, the body as « house, » « vessel, » « cow, » or « fountain »—to more fragmented, digressive, or « deconstructed » portrayals found in modern literary texts. This approach facilitates a comparative investigation of the figurative images employed to represent women’s bodies in the Talmud, the Midrash, legal and medical discourses, and Hebrew literature. These topics will be addressed in the speakers’ presentations.
The workshop also offers a space for methodological reflection on the function of metaphor within Jewish cultural contexts, with a particular focus on its role in shaping representations of women’s bodies. It serves as an initial occasion to examine not only how metaphor operates—across both prescriptive and non-prescriptive frameworks—but also the part it plays in reinforcing or challenging dominant cultural constructions.
Programme
21 mai 2025
14:00 – 14.15
- Opening remarks : Elisa Carandina (INALCO, Paris) – Federico Dal Bo (UNIMORE)
14.15 – 15.45
- Isabella Scortegagna (Indipendent scholar) – A Guilty Kiss Between MiIdrash and Contemporary Art
- Ilaria Briata (University of Hamburg) – Scatologic Synecdoches and Sacred Signifiers
- Zeljko Jovanovic (INALCO, Paris) – Empowering symbolism of female body in Judeo-Spanish folk narrative
15.45 – 16.15 : Coffee break
16.15 – 17.45
- Judith Muller (University of Frankfurt) – “Guf Rishon” Female Translators giving a voice to Hebrew authors
- Alice Giuliani (Unimore) – Embodied interaction: the creative metaphor as a figure of maternity
22 mai 2025
9.00 – 12.00
Workshop
Female Body or Women’s Bodies? A Methodological Approach to the Limits of Metaphors
Chairs: Elisa Carandina (INALCO) – Federico Dal Bo (UNIMORE)
Organisation
- Elisa Carandina, Cermom, Inalco – elisa.carandina@inalco.fr
- Federico dal Bo, Università di Modena e Reggio – fdalbo@unimore.it
Ce colloque se déroulera en anglais.
