Call for papers: Re-reading Rembrandt.

Amsterdam School for Cultural Analysis (ASCA), University of Amsterdam

Conference date: 12/2/06.

Deadline for proposals: 7/15/06.

=20

Keynote speakers:

Mieke Bal (Academy Professor, Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and =
Sciences/ University of Amsterdam)

Harry berger Jr. (Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa =
Cruz)

=20

2006, the year of Rembrandt's 400th birthday, was declared Rembrandtjaar =
(Rembrandt year) in the Netherlands and is being celebrated elsewhere in =
the world of art history and museology. It seems, however, that a real =
contemporary approach, one that crosses disciplinary boundaries and that =
sees this year as an opportunity to analyse Rembrandt's art as a =
cultural object, has been so far singularly neglected. Indeed, the =
celebrations seem concentrated on questions of attribution - i.e. the =
exact delimitation of the "real" Rembrandt corpus - and of anecdotal =
biography - that is, the "life and works" all-too-familiar schema =
recounting who the dear son of Holland's golden Age actually was. =20

            ASCA, as an institute devoted to the study of culture in a =
contemporary context, and to the constant questioning of accepted ideas, =
is organising a one-day conference to coincide with the end of the =
Rembrandtjaar. In it, we propose to consider Rembrandt as both a =
historical figure and as a general name for a group of artefacts with =
which our own time is yet to come to terms. We welcome proposals that =
will challenge, among others, ideas of authenticity, of homogeneous =
cultural context, of the Dutch 17th century as an undisputed "golden =
Age", and of Rembrandt's paintings as vehicles of coherent, transparent =
narrativity. Contributions may come from specialists of art history and =
theory, but also from any discipline for which reconsidering Rembrandt =
can be of relevance.

            The conference coincides with the 15th anniversary, and the =
long-awaited reprinting, of Mieke Bal's groundbreaking Reading =
Rembrandt. We wish therefore, to include in some of the presentations a =
reconsideration of this work, and a continuation of the interaction it =
initiated between art history, narratology, psychoanalysis, gender =
studies, semiotics and other fields of study. Rembrandt's corpus of =
works being as rich and vast as it is, "Reading Rembrandt" is a =
never-ending process, and we would like to engage in another re-reading =
from the vantage point of 2006. =20

=20

Please email abstracts (max. 300 words) for a 20-minute talk, as well as =
a short CV, to Itay Sapir, i.sapir_at_uva.nl. =20

Deadline: July 15th, 2006.

         ==========================================================
              From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
                        CFP_at_english.upenn.edu
                         Full Information at
                     http://cfp.english.upenn.edu
         or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu
         ==========================================================
Received on Sat May 20 2006 - 10:08:58 EDT