Reflections on Revenge: a conference on the culture and politics of vengeance

4 September 2015, University of Leicester Confirmed keynote speaker: Philippe Sands QC

‘…the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell’

The taste for revenge, whether morsel or dish served cold, is something people, groups and nations, and even animals desire. Since time immemorial, individuals and communities have done justice by harming those who have harmed them, despite the costs, and the avengers immortalised as heroes and villains. While the hurts and methods for addressing them may differ, blood feuds, the killing of Osama bin Laden, and revenge porn are all motivated by the need to get even.

This interdisciplinary conference will ask who seeks revenge and why, how it is done, how it is justified, how it is represented, how it feels to get revenge or be on the receiving end. This includes revenge starting with the smallest workplace slights, through family disputes and lynch mobs, to political violence, war and terrorism. Our speakers come from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds including biological, human and social sciences, arts and humanities, and themes include the origins of revenge, revenge and international conflict, blood feuds, revenge porn, historical accounts of revenge, revenge in film, television and literature, revenge and homicide, revenge testimonies, and much more!

In addition, this event will be contributing to the production of a documentary on revenge by Rex Bloomstein and Justin Temple (RexEntertainment) as well as traditional academic outputs.

Please click here to access the Revenge website for more information.

Register now by visiting http://shop.le.ac.uk/ and typing ‘Revenge’ in the search bar