Acts of Care and Remembrance That Empower
This panel invites proposals that examine acts of remembrance and care of an individual’s or a collective’s past that lead to empowerment and change. Papers may address historical or contemporary works in art, architecture, film, recordings, and literature, and may engage theoretical, critical, pedagogical, or archival practices. Drawing from Valérie Perrin’s novels Forgotten on Sundays (2015) and Fresh Water for Flowers (2019), soon to be on the screen by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, memory work enables individuals to feel visible, situate themselves in a collective, and solve piece puzzles through inquiry. Such work is often relegated to women’s labor, caregivers, and hired help who go beyond roles and job duties to make personal connections. At times, it comes from a commitment to remember in others’ absences, to document for future generations, and to suppress or reconstruct the past. At a community level, this important work provides opportunities to add to an already rich cultural background, to interrogate accepted knowledge or myths, and to include alternative storytelling. This panel takes all that into account to explore the processes (and the burden or pleasure of such work) that have the potential to transform an individual or a community as active agents.