Making Sense of Catastrophe: Postcolonial Approaches to Postsocialist Experiences

Conference venue: Cambridge
Period: Feb. 23 - 26, 2012
Deadline for submitting abstracts: Oct. 1, 2011

The proposal should consist of an abstract of 300 - 500 words and a brief C.V.

The workshop intends to consolidate a new research agenda that combines three independently developed fields, Postcolonial Studies, Postsocialist Studies, and Memory Studies, in their application to Eastern Europe and Northern Eurasia. Is the terror in places like Katyn or Kolyma, as in Auschwitz, unrepresentable, or have art and history learned how to represent these events? How do we need to revise postcolonial categories such as orientalism, hegemony, or the subaltern when referring to places such as Belarus or Kazakhstan? How are people across the postsocialist world making sense of its serial catastrophes? What does the memory of the past teach us about power and culture in the present and in the future?
 
A keynote address will be given by Michael Rothberg (University of Illinois).

Both theoretical and empirical contributions are invited. Interested scholars from the postcolonial and postsocialist worlds are equally welcome.

Proposals shall consist of an abstract of 300-500 words and a short CV and be sent to Jill Gather by 1 October 2011. Please also inform if you wish help with financing your travel to Cambridge. Accommodation is provided from 23 to 26 February 2012. The reimbursement for travel expenses will be negotiated on an individual basis.

Jill Gather
University of Cambridge
e-mail: jg611@cam.ac.uk