cfp.english.upenn.edu

This conference is part of a larger research project, focusing on societies, exchanges and power in the Americas and the Asia / Pacific region, as well as questions of identity representation on an international scale. More precisely, it might be useful to re-think the very notion of culture by examining the experiences / situations and the representations of those who chose – or were forced – to change cultures. The primary goal is to study a cultural displacement within the geographical confines of the Americas / Asia Pacific region, in which the CRHIA (Research center, international and Atlantic history) specializes. But beyond a simple study of migration, the secondary goal of this conference is to re-examine the very model of integration as it has sometimes been defined by historians, sociologists and anthropologists. (See, for example Communalism and Globalisation in South Asia and its Diaspora by Deana Heath and Chandana Mathur, Routledge, 2010 and Le Monde romanesque chinois au XXe siècle. Modernités et identités by Zhang Yinde, Paris, Honoré Champion, 2003).
Several approaches are possible, beyond the political and practical aspects of mobility. Broader definitions of nationality, such as trans-nationality, multi-nationality and complex cultural identity could be proposed. For example, in his writings Du Weiming has shown that globalization has encouraged the emergence of a “Cultural China” which questions popular definitions of nationality and diaspora, and redefines the interactions between center and periphery. Examinations of marginal cultures, whether cultural or linguistic, are especially encouraged.
We invite individual presentations lasting twenty minutes, in French or in English, on the theme “Changing Culture, the Stakes of Displacement” in the following areas:

• Studies of the South Pacific
• Asian Studies
• American (North and/or South) Studies
• Images and Representations
• Comparative Literature
• World Literature and World History

Please send a short abstract (250 words) and a brief bio (including your name, professional affiliation and e-mail address), before 1 April 2013 to each of the following organizers: david.waterman@univ-lr.fr miceala.symington@univ-lr.fr martine.raibaud@univ-lr.fr
Accepted proposals will receive confirmation before 1 May 2013. The registration fee is 50 Euros, and the sessions will be open to the public and to students. We plan to publish the conference proceedings in a peer-reviewed volume, but the editor insists on a strong engagement with the conference theme as a condition of publication.