We are happy to post this Call for Papers for a conference that sounds fascinating:
Digital Memories, Digital Methods: Transcultural Memory in Europe Beyond Web 2.0
Budapest, 29-30 September 2014
Digital technologies not only have a profound impact on the form, content and distribution of individual and collective memories, but also on the ways in which we perceive of memory. While the internet has exponentially increased the accessibility of data, at the same time it has produced an overload of information, inviting us to rethink traditional notions of archive, storage/retrieval, and materiality, as well as of location, temporality and (trans)national belonging. And yet, due to social and economic inequality, data are still far from evenly accessible. On the one hand, the ‘culture of connectivity’ driven by social media such as facebook and twitter has given rise to new trans- and international networks which facilitate sharing data, experiences, and memories. On the other hand, these media tend to obscure the role and importance of the technological and commercial factors on which these interpersonal exchanges depend.
This workshop aims to discuss the possibilities, limitations and ambiguities of digital media, in particular the internet, for the production of transcultural/transnational memory in Europe.
The workshop will be organized around the discussion of short papers of ca. 20 minutes, followed by a response of ca. 10 minutes, and a discussion of ca. 15 minutes. All papers as well as a selection of a few key texts by leading scholars in the field will be pre-circulated in order to stimulate the discussion. There will be two keynote lectures by Andrew Hoskins (University of Glasgow) and Ellen Rutten (University of Amsterdam).
We invite contributions dealing with any topic or (geographical) area in Europe and which will take into account the following questions: What is the role and scope of the internet and digital media in mediating memories across national and cultural borders in Europe? How do digitization, multimediatization and “googlization” (Van Dijck) affect the dynamics of (trans)cultural memory in Europe today? How to use digital media in memory research? How to deal with problems arising from the possibilities generated by digital technologies, such as information overload?
Proposals for papers should contain a title and a brief summary (ca. 200-250 words) and a bio-bibliography (max. 100 words). Deadline for submission is 1 May 2014. Selection to be made known by 1 June 2014.
Please, submit proposals to:
Paul Bijl [email protected]
Stijn Vervaet [email protected]