MOMENT TO MONUMENT

Conference at The English Department of Basel University (Switzerland)
May 31-June 2, 2007

Keynote speakers:
Aleida Assmann (Univ. of Konstanz)
Péter Dávidházi (Loránd Eötvös University, Budapest)
David Morley (Goldsmiths College, Univ. of London)
Ann Thompson (King's College, Univ. of London)

MOMENT TO MONUMENT
>From the momentary event in time to the seemingly timeless monumental presence
and back to oblivion: the ways in which cultural memories are produced,
transformed and lost, turning space into time and time into space, have been
observed in many areas. Inquiries into literature, architecture, the visual and
performing arts, the media and the everyday have frequently focused on the
problem of monuments, canons and myths and their legitimization. The need to
reform them is increased and complicated by revolutionized communication
processes, the global dimensions of mass media and the different meanings which
concepts such as 'community', 'identity' and 'belonging' are acquiring through
(post)modern transformations of space and time. These shifts raise the interest
of research that does not just discuss canons as desirable or undesirable
givens, but also the processes by which changes have taken place and can be
brought about.

Questions that need to be addressed include:
How do everyday objects or works of art achieve cultural significance for a
community?
How do they lose it? How, for example, can works considered classics disappear
from the canon?
What kind of performative practices (ritual or other) are involved in this
process?
Why would some works of art lend themselves better to monumentalization than
others?
Are there periods in history that stimulate or facilitate monumentalization?
How do writers/artists take into account the phenomenon of monumentalization,
resisting or pursuing it?
In how far has the media revolution changed our sense of belonging to places and
traditions?
How does mobility affect the relationship between the global and the local?

Call for Papers:
We are interested in proposals for 20-minute papers that offer case-studies
trying to establish general patterns.

Proposals, not exceeding 500 words, along with a brief biographical note, should
be sent by 1 December 2006 in the body of an email to:

Dr. Regula Hohl Trillini
Department of English, Basel University, Switzerland
Email: r.hohl_at_unibas.ch
www.unibas.ch/anglist

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Received on Thu Oct 12 2006 - 12:51:59 EDT