Call for Papers 2008: The Enkidu Summer Conference

The primary focus of this inclusive and interdisciplinary annual conference organized by Enkidu Magazine and the International Society for Cultural History and Cultural Studies (CHiCS) in Mexico City is to interrogate storytelling, memories and identity constructions from a wide range of perspectives, and in their manifold cultural and social manifestations.

The fifth edition of this conference cycle, which will take place in July 2008, will have a special focus on "Border Cultures, Multi-Culturalism, Diasporas and Cosmopolitanism". Papers representing interpretative approaches in the humanities and social sciences, as well as papers addressing creative historical and political memory, remembering and forgetting of the past, as well as translations between cultures and re-negotiations and re-constructions of cultural identities in one one way or another are particularly welcome. However, also in 2008 the conference will follow a similar model as in previous years with a large number of thematic sessions addressing several different issues.

Papers are welcomed on virtually all related topics and themes, independently of time period and space. Also papers of comparative phenomena will be considered. Interdisciplinary perspectives are encouraged. The conference aims at bringing together academics working in all relevant disciplines as well as activists, artists and other professionals, and promoting innovative multidisciplinary and multicultural exchange and dialogue.

"Border cultures, Multi-Culturalism, Diasporas and Cosmopolitanism" continues the tradition established by the previous held events in this conference cycle which has developed into an annual academic tradition in Mexico City, bringing together participants from all over the world to share and exchange their research, experiences and ideas in a truly multicultural, multilingual and interdisciplinary academic environment: Masculinities: New Perspectives (2004), Competing Diversities (2005), Testimonial Texts: Stories, Lives and Memories (2006) and Identities in Transition (2007).

UNESCO has proclaimed 2008 as International Year of Languages and linguistic diversity and coexistence will be a common theme of many academic, cultural and artistic activities organised by Enkidu Magazine throughout the year in Mexico City. Also during the Summer Conference, there will be a stream of panel sessions addressing a wide range of issues related to linguistic diversity and the role of local and indigenous languages in colonial and post-colonial societies.

2008 is also the 30th anniversary of Mexico City Gay Pride Parede (which will take place during the weekend before the conference) and therefore another stream of panel sessions, will be dedicated to the History of Sexual Minorities Activisms in Mexico and abroad.

The program will be organised in a large number of special thematic sessions and subconferences covering a highly diverse series of themes extending from "Conquest and Political Memory in late colonial Nahuatl texts from Central Mexico", "Migrations and Diasporas: Displacement Heritage, Global Spaces and Cultural Memories", "Imaginary Homelands", "‘Memory’ and ‘Nostalgia’ in cultural texts" to "Cyber-identities in movement" and "Slave Narratives from the Archives of the Spanish Inquisition".

We welcome submissions from all branches of the social sciences, humanities, as well as the arts.

Interpretations of the conference themes ranging from the predictable to the surprising are encouraged.

Graduate students are encouraged to participate.

500 word abstracts should be submitted to the organising committee in English, Castilian, German or French by 15. April,  2008 (The deadline has been extended). The conference languages will be English and Castilian.

CHICS' academic conferences are characterized by traditional paper presentations in panel sessions with three speakers each, followed by lively exchange, dialogue and interaction between speakers and audience in many small groups, workshops and seminars rather than by formal plenary sessions. Our conferences provide a forum for diverse voices from all over the world, to come together and make connections across linguistic, cultural and academic barriers.

The conference sessions will be conducted in Castillian and English. Some sessions will be bilingual and conducted in both languages with interpreters. Other sessions will be conducted in one of the two conference languages, and the session moderator will give summaries of the paper in the other language. Many sessions will be conducted with interpreters for sign language (on request).

Among the themes of interest are the following:

- Narrative and Linguistics

- Linguistic borders and translation

- Narrative and Myth

- Storytelling in rituals, customs, and fetishism.

- Storytelling and Visual/Performing Arts and Music

- Oral Tradition and Contemporary Chronicle

- Postmodernity and its narratives

- Voice and reflexivity in oral and written texts

- Colonial and Postcolonial Narratives

- Globalization and indigenous cultures

- Story, Dialogue and Discourse

- Memory and truth-telling

- Testimonial Narratives

- Memory and Written Record

- Text, Context and Intertext in Storytelling and Performance

- Children’s Stories

- Language, Authority and Silence

Interdisciplinary perspectives are especially welcome since all these topics in themselves stretch across several disciplines: history, literary studies, linguistics, psychology, political sciences, pedagogy, ethnology, anthropology, sociology...

Paper and panel proposals

500 word abstracts should be submitted to the organising committee in English, Castilian, German or French by 15.April, 2007. The conference languages will be English and Castilian.

Papers should be of approximately 20 - 30 minutes duration (circa 8 - 10 pages). Other forms of presentation, for instance workshops, panel debates and poster sessions will be considered on request.

Proposals for panel sessions

Typically, a panel of academic papers should include 3 (maximum 4) speakers and 1 moderator (session chair). Each session will last for 2 hours allowing for 30 minutes for each speaker and a further 30 minutes for questions and discussion.

Proposers should submit:

(1) Session title and a session intro (ca 100 words),

(2) Paper titles,

(3) Abstracts for each paper (500 words),

(4) Short biography for each participant and the panel chair (ca 100-150 words),

(5) Institutional affiliation and address for each participant,

(6) Audio-visual and other technical requirements.

If you would like to propose a panel session, and want assistance in finding speakers and/or a session chair, we can publish a call for papers for your panel session on the conference web site and distribute it in our newsletter. If you have an idea for a thematic panel session and would like us to publish a call for papers on the conference website, please send us a proposal by e-mail to info@enkidumagazine.com 

Proposals for individual papers

Abstracts are to be submitted by 15. April, 2008 along with the presenter’s name, short bio, address, telephone, email, and institutional affiliation. It is recommended to use the form here, when submitting an abstract. However, abstracts will also be accepted as e-mail attachments to info@enkidumagazine.com.

All correspondence for this conference will be conducted via email. You will be notified by 23. April, 2008 whether your proposal has been accepted or rejected.

Disabled Participants

We are pleased to announce that printed conference materials that will be distributed during the conference, also will be available in large print or Braille on request. If you require sign language interpretation during your session, or you would like to distribute handouts or other materials in Braille during your presentation, please indicate this in the registration form.

Registration Form for Participants with disabilities

Participants with disabilities are recommended to fill in this form if they require any special support or assistance during the event or during social and cultural activities before or during the conference.