Identities under Siege: The Other in Fascist Discourses
Please consider submitting an abstract for the following panel at the 2018 NeMLA convention in Pittsburgh, PA on April 12-15, 2018: Identities under Siege: The Other in Fascist Discourses
During the rise and life of the various fascisms of Europe in the early 20th century, both internal and external identities were negotiated through cultural productions. Nascent nations embarked on campaigns of identity construction as they vied for power after World War I. How did European fascisms conceptualize other people, and how was this depicted in their propaganda? What was their idea of the Mediterranean, and of Europe? How did fascisms define themselves in opposition to other identity groups, and how was identity instrumentalized or politicized? Were identity boundaries blurred, and were they contradictory? How has historical memory dealt with these contradictions? What were the roles of race and nation-building? This panel will discuss fascism's attempt at self-definition, its treatment of the Other, its conceptualization of both the Mediterranean and Europe, race/colonialism, and the repercussions of its failure to establish a coherent narrative of what defines a “fascist." Interdisciplinary works dealing with fascism and their cultural projects in different parts of Europe during the 20th century are welcome in this panel. This panel will contribute to current debates on the construction of imagined worlds, from the perspective of the dystopian proposals that emerged from European fascism during the 20th century. The goal of this discussion is to reflect on the processes of inclusivity and exclusivity that shaped the fascist discourse with regards to identity. Interdisciplinary works dealing with fascism and their cultural projects in different parts of Europe during the 20th century are welcomed in this panel. https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/16961
Deadline: September 30th, 2017 Panel organizers: Claudia Sbuttoni (Columbia University), Iria Ameixeiras Cundins (Columbia University)