Conference call for papers

The Department of Philology and the Department of Humanities of the University of Szczecin invite scholars of all fields to an international scientific conference Urban chronotope: borderline post-war narratives taking place between Oct. 16th and 18th in Szczecin (Poland).

Conference title: Urban chronotope: borderline post-war narratives
Institution: Uniwersytet Szczeciński / University of Szczecin
Place: Szczecin, Poland (150 km from Berlin, Germany)
Date: October 16th – 18th 2014
Application deadline: June 30th 2014
Language: English and Polish (assisted by a translator if necessary)
Conference fee: 300 PLN / ca. €75 (fee includes the cost of stay and of the official dinner party)

“Borderline” is an underlying concept of most of the debates in contemporary human studies in which the great divide between disciplines, races, genders, territories, epochs etc. has been long questioned. Space is no longer a monument to a specific moment in time, but is a time-specific concept, referring to phenomena both present and absent in its structure. Urban space, as an area where time leaves its mark in probably most visible way, appears to be specifically predisposed to present the concept of borderline.

For that reason we would like to propose a debate over the condition of post-war and post-Holocaust urban narratives in literature, film, arts, architecture, historiography, politics, geography etc. The debate is designed not only to discuss the way we perceive the city through cultural activity, but also to look at the urban narratives as markers of contemporary epistemology in a wider sense. Therefore one of the most important elements of the discussion will be the reconstruction of the no longer existing urban space and time, including the devolving opposition between rural and urban space, transposition of the concept of a ghetto, and disappearing communities, such as, foremost, the post-Holocaust Jewish community etc.

We invite international scholars of all disciplines to discuss topics including (but not limited to):
• City and identity;
• (Post-)Holocaust narratives in/of/about a city;
• Migration in literary and other narratives;
• Migration, deportation, displacement as points in the topography of memory;
• Anthropology of space and local identity narratives;
• Region, nation, frontier – academic (re)configurations;
• Gender: borderlands of identity;
• Urban post-memory;
• Cultural, linguistic etc. borderlands.
Each presentation should be limited to 20 minutes.
Conference proceedings will be published in Polish or English (depending on the number and configuration of texts; the final decision will be taken by the Conference Committee)

Please send a short abstract (up to 500 words) and a bio (up to 300 words) to Ten adres pocztowy jest chroniony przed spamowaniem. Aby go zobaczyć, konieczne jest włączenie w przeglądarce obsługi JavaScript. before June 30th 2014.

All the information concerning the conference will be available at www.postgraniczne.usz.edu.pl.