Deadline: 30 April 2011
Open to: graduate students of all disciplines, anyone interested
Dates and Venue: 7 – 8 2011, University of Vienna
Costs: travel and accommodation expenses for candidates with accepted presentations will be covered up to a limited amount
Conference “Images of Power / Representations of the Past”
The conference will take place on November 7th-8th 2011 at the University of Vienna.
The conference Images of Power / Representations of the Past is organized by the Doctoral College European Historical Dictatorship and Transformation Research at the University of Vienna as the first part of a bigger conference (the second part, with the title Public sphere, ideology, transformation of power, will be organized by the Doctoral College as well and will take place two weeks later). It aims to explore different aspects and correlations between images and political power. The focus of the conference lies on the social, political and ideological utilization and function of images in dictatorial regimes and societies in transformation.
The goal is to identify diverse ways of how visual art and various types of images were used as a political instrument in the European dictatorships of the twentieth century to promote the representation of political power, leaders and heroes, as well as the construction of national identity, historical narratives and national myths. Different forms of political iconography should be particularly examined and analysed with emphasis on concept of nation, state and power, visual representation of political parties and elite. The materials that could be explored are e.g. posters, photography, film, promotion material for election campaigns and others.
Questions that could be raised, especially on case studies examples, might include, but are not limited to:
* How does visual art contribute to the construction of political, social and historical myths, legends and memories?
* How and why do images and power interfere and interact?
* How did different representations of the past influence politics in European countries during the 20th century?
* What was/is the role of visual and mental images for the construction of identity in European dictatorships as well as in post-dictatorial societies?
* How do official culture, art and cultural events in a dictatorship reflect, spread and help to assert its ideological ideas, political thinking and strategical aims?
The theme of the conference is broadly conceived and we are keen to encourage papers from a variety of critical perspectives from graduate students of all disciplines from universities abroad, as well as from Austrian universities.
Working language of the conference: English
Costs
Travel and accommodation expenses for candidates with accepted presentations will be covered up to a limited amount by the organizers of the conference.
Please send your 300 words proposal, together with your short CV and current email address, to Nathalie Soursos (nathalie.patricia.soursos@univie.ac.at) by April 30th 2011.
Successful candidates will be informed per e-mail by May 31st 2011.
Open to: graduate students of all disciplines, anyone interested
Dates and Venue: 7 – 8 2011, University of Vienna
Costs: travel and accommodation expenses for candidates with accepted presentations will be covered up to a limited amount