cfp.english.upenn.edu

CALL FOR PAPERS
CECC – The Research Centre for Communication and Culture presents:
ON THE EVE OF WAR
V International CECC Conference on Culture and Conflict
December 5-6, 2013
School of Human Sciences – Catholic University of Portugal (Lisbon)

The V CECC International Conference on Culture and Conflict “On the Eve of War” aims to examine periods that anticipate wars and conflicts from various perspectives. Before the current world crisis, which threatens a future of peace; at the dawn of the new millennium, born in the shadow of a new type of war, the war on terror; and keeping in mind the proximity of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, it is urgent to investigate (i) if there are any anticipated or predicted wars; (ii) how they are emplotted; and (iii) (re)configured.

Regardless of the historical context, it is possible to identify common denominators in pre-war periods: a retreat into political extremes, violence, hatred, ethnic and religious conflicts, suspicion, insecurity, distrust, the emergence of leaders that stimulate bigotry, among others. In short, the period that precedes war comprises a whole edifice of narratives about impending dangers to the values that shape western civilization.

The conference “On the Eve of War” aims to discuss the aesthetic, ethical, social, political, economic and ideological aspects that constitute the conceptual framework of the war phenomenon and their discursive impact on the cultural fabric, the production of subjectivity. Papers are welcome on the following issues:

1. Nationalism, colonialism, racism
2. Discursive/ethical practices and conflict premediations
3. War and cultural critique
4. The role of intellectuals in fostering conflict
5. Malaise and resentment: the psychoanalytical discourse on the eve of conflict
6. War and the media
7. Warring modernism(s)
8. Entertainment and the representation of war (video games, film, theatre, dance, music, etc)
9. Science, technology, industry and warfare
10. Virtual worlds and cyber wars

The Conference working languages will be Portuguese and English.

Please send the Organizing Committee 300-word abstracts for 20-minute papers as well as a brief biographical note (circa 100 words) to eve.of.war.2013@gmail.com by July 1st. Proposals should list paper title, name, institutional affiliation, and contact details.

Notification of acceptance will be given by September 15th, 2013.

Organizing Committee:
Ana Paula Rias
José Miguel Sardica
Adriana Martins
Mónica Dias
Lara Duarte
Marina Guiomar
Sónia Pereira