Storytelling, Memories and Identity Constructions

Storytelling, Memories and Identity Constructions
04.11.11-09.11.11
Mexico City

Deadline for paper proposal submissions (500 words): 15 July, 2011
(Deadline has been extended for all sessions and sub-conferences)
Conference Languages: English, Castilian, German, French and Nahuatl
Languages for presentation: English, Castilian.

The primary focus for the 7th edition 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 with the support of the National Human Rights Comission of Mexico, is to interrogate storytelling, memories and identity constructions from a wide range of perspectives, and in their manifold
cultural and social manifestations.

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.

Among the themes of interest are the following:

- Cultural texts
- 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
- Conquest and Political Memory
- Globalization and indigenous cultures
- Migrations and Diasporas
- Story, Dialogue and Discourse
- Memory and truth-telling
- Testimonial Narratives
- Memory and Written Record
- Imaginary Homelands
- Displacement Heritage
- Global Spaces and Cultural Memories
- 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, educational sciences, ethnology, queer studies, anthropology, sociology...

Graduate students are encouraged to participate.

The conference has developed into a unique international academic forum for interpretative approaches in the humanities and social sciences. The conference has traditionally also been a forum for discussing 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.

The conference is organised into a large number of thematic sessions and sub-conferences addressing a highly diverse series of themes. The conference has an exceptional multilingual and multi-cultural approach, typically 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.

The conference sessions are conducted in Castillian and English. Occasionally, the conference also has sessions conducted in German and French. Some sessions will be bilingual and conducted in both languages with interpreters (on request). 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 are being conducted with interpreters for sign language (on request).

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.

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.

Paper and panel proposals

The conference languages for presentation will be English and Castilian.

500 word abstracts should be submitted to the organising committee in
English, Castilian, German or French.

Final 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 individual papers

Abstracts are to be submitted along with the presenter's name, short
bio, address, telephone, email, and institutional affiliation.

It is recommended to use this form when submitting a paper proposal:
http://enkidumagazine.com/chics/huc/registration.htm However, abstracts
will also be accepted as e-mail attachments to huc@enkidumagazine.comAll correspondence for this conference will be conducted via email. You
will be notified by 15. July whether your proposal has been accepted or
rejected.

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 huc@enkidumagazine.com