CFP: “Robin Hood and Medieval Outlaw Communities,” IARHS Sponsored Session(s) at Leeds IMC, July 5-8, 2027

The Leeds International Medieval Congress has chosen “Communities” as its theme for 2027. The International Association for Robin Hood Studies is organizing sessions around this broad theme and is particularly interested in scholars who would like to explore the theme of communities along the following lines of inquiry:

•  Communities of outlaws in medieval literature and history (and their post-medieval incarnations): especially structures, hierarchies, rules, regulations, symbols, identifiers, language/communication, space, administration, and legal considerations and contexts
•   Robin Hood and performance communities (medieval to modern): especially records of performance, communal identity, ritual, shared/amplified political and ideological beliefs, performance networks, performance and collective memory, performance and belonging
•  Robin Hood and communities of practice (medieval to modern): communities/schools of authors, Robin Hood and audience(s), manuscript communities, printing communities, editorial communities, scholarly communities, disciplinary communities.

Paper proposals on the Robin Hood and medieval outlaw tradition as related to other aspects of “communities” will be considered as well.

Papers will be 15-20 minutes long, either in-person or hybrid (please inform your intentions to deliver a paper remotely in your submission).

Please send any queries and proposals (approximately 200 words), including your full name, affiliation, email address, paper title, and any accessibility requirements to Alex Kaufman alkaufman@bsu.edu by September 15, 2026.

For information on Leeds IMC 2027, please see https://www.imc.leeds.ac.uk/imc-2027/.

IARHS CFP: Leeds International Medieval Congress 2018

Remembering Robin Hood:

Memory, Representation, and Adaptation in the Post-Medieval Outlaw Tradition

IARHS Sponsored Session

International Medieval Congress

University of Leeds

Convenor:

Stephen Basdeo

Stephen.basdeo@outlook.com

“The [Robin Hood] legend endured through adaptation. In each generation it acquired new twists from shifts in composition, outlook, and interests of the audience, or changes in the level of literacy, or developments in the means of communication”

James C. Holt, Robin Hood (1982)

Following on from a well-attended and very well-received panel at the IMC 2017, the International Association for Robin Hood Studies seeks to build upon this success by sponsoring a panel on the theme of memory in the outlaw tradition.

Of all medieval legends, Robin Hood is the one whose ‘afterlife’ in the modern period has proved to be the most successful in terms of longevity. Throughout history, he has been represented in plays, songs, books, and films, and memorialised in landmarks. The proposed panel will explore the various ways that certain aspects of the medieval Robin Hood tradition have been remembered by people and/or adapted by writers, artists, and filmmakers in the post-medieval period.

Possible papers might include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Robin Hood in landmarks (e.g. in sculpture, Robin Hood’s grave, Little John’s grave, Robin Hood’s well, etc.)

• Robin Hood in post-medieval popular culture (e.g. 18^th, 19^th, and 20^th-century medievalism: books, films, comics, etc.)

• Community and contested memories of Robin Hood (e.g. local and nationalist appropriations of Robin Hood)

• Folk memory and folk song.

In order to be considered for inclusion, please submit a 250 word abstract to stephen.basdeo@outlook.com by 15 September 2017.

The following should be included with your abstract:

• Correspondence address and email address (this is important, as it will need to be submitted to the IMC)

• Affiliation.

• A brief biography (please indicate if you are a postgraduate student, as this will need to be included on the IMC submission)

 
If possible, please submit the abstract, your contact details, and biography as one word document.