The forthcoming 13th International Iberian-Slavonic Conference is organized within the context of the 30th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall with the aim to explore the complexity of cultural roles played by walls, both literal and imaginary. Indeed, walls are to be understood widely as physical barriers and symbolic representations of both intentional or unintended division and consequent isolation, and as both spatial and temporal categories within a whole range of socio-cultural determinants. Thus, the focus is on trans- and interdisciplinary comparative analysis of the cultural dimensions of walls within the Iberian-Slavonic horizon, approached from a variety of perspectives: historical, political, sociological, cultural, psychological, educational, literary, linguistic.

 

AREAS OF INTEREST AND APPROACHES

 

FOCUS I: OVERVIEW: IBERIAN AND SLAVONIC CULTURES 30 YEARS AFTER THE “END OF BINARY HISTORY” (Fukuyama, 1992)

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1. State of the art: history, history of ideas, cultural studies, literature, linguistics, education

The Conference intends to look at the areas of Europe under review as marked with the idea of the fallen Berlin Wall. How definitive is the end of the great narrative of the world divided by the Iron Curtain? What was the immediate aftershock, and what were the less direct consequences of breaking with the somewhat convenient dynamics of “democratic and liberal West vs. communist and totalitarian East”? What was the role of the EU in the process? Has the division proved to be a generator of a “pre-Wall-world” nostalgia and of the rejection of new and challenging attitudes towards the formerly reigning paradigms? Or, following Fukuyamas`s concept of the “end of binary history”, has European culture simply been subject to slowly increasing differentiation? At first glance it may seem that the chosen topic is more directly related to the Slavonic communities, where political and social frameworks changed radically, but there is strong evidence that significant changes, raised by the “need to re-invent”, have been identified within the Iberian parts of the paradigm under study.

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2. Sociocultural and inter-art approach: “post-Berlin-Wall generation(s)” from the Iberian-Slavonic perspective

Is there a “post-Wall generation”? Are there “post-Wall communities” that did not experience the two-block world? The Conference will seek to review, compare and debate possible distinctive features of “post-Wall generations” from an Iberian-Slavonic point of view, such as historical memory, artistic and aesthetic preferences, new and old ways of expression, and artistic generation gaps and clashes in order to offer the opportunity to take the approach to its “ultimate consequences” and eventually make Iberian-Slavonic studies decide if 1989 originated a crisis, a (rough or smooth) transition or maybe no real cultural change at all.

 

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FOCUS II. UPDATES ON MIGRATIONS AND READING THE OTHER WITHIN IBERIAN-SLAVONIC STUDIES

The Conference will also review the Iberian-Slavonic perspective on the multiple and complex subject of migration between the two pre-Berlin-Wall worlds, a topic in constant metamorphosis in the changing Europe, and on the consequent “Reading the Other” studies, both examined through the concept of constructing bridges and rising barriers. It will thus provide an opportunity to update the conclusions of one of the earliest editions of the Iberian and Slavonic Cultures in Contact and Comparison Series, namely the 2nd Iberian-Slavonic Conference Intra muros - Ante portas (Camões Institute / University of Lisbon, 8-10 May, 2008).

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FOCUS III: FROM WALLS TO MURALS IN URBAN SPACES

Murals use walls of all kinds for artistic and cultural communication, and are currently transforming urban spaces across the world into “live and living walls”. Their presence is growing in numbers and visibility in both Slavonic and Iberian cultures as they seem to provide a natural and spontaneous response to their communities’ needs to speak out, comment on the present, rewrite their history, evoke their memories and link to the future. Murals use walls to testify to the vitality of the citizens’ reactions, to balance the immediate and the universal, and to include amusement and pop culture. One could even argue that murals tend to reorganize (reinvent?) life in the community by opening up spaces for ever new artistic, cultural and social interpretations and possibilities. Thus, the Conference will also look at the transforming potential of this recent sociocultural and artistic trend. Here again, the former Berlin “Iron Curtain” is the point of departure as it has also been gradually transformed into a mural, a means of artistic, political and cultural communication on both sides of the previously divided territories and peoples.

Finally, the 13th International Iberian-Slavonic Conference will be held at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Lisbon (2nd and 3rdof May) and at the University of Évora (4th May), and will be followed by a guided tour of the city. Also, and as the tradition has it, the Conference will be the central event of the 13th Week of Iberian-Slavonic Cultural Cooperation (24th April – 05th May, 2019) at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in Lisbon, and will include a Round Table and a Poetry Evening dedicated to the “post-Wall generation(s)”, and an exhibition on murals and their roles in Iberian and Slavonic urban spaces.

 

Paper and panel proposals

Abstracts of a maximum of 250 words with 5 keywords, intended for 20-minute presentations, should be submitted using the attached pre-registration form..

Panels of a maximum of five members including the panel coordinator are also accepted. Panel proposals should consist of one pre-registration form for each participant, plus another one, made by the panel coordinator, for the panel as a whole.

The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 15th February, 2019.

Only proposals submitted with a fully filled-in pre-registration form will be accepted. The receipt of correct applications will be acknowledged by e-mail.

 

Selection procedure

The Scientific Committee of the Conference will select paper proposals and inform on their decision by e-mail after 15th March, 2019.

 

Languages

English, Spanish and Portuguese are the official languages of the Conference, so abstracts can be submitted, and papers delivered, in any of these three languages.

Papers in Portuguese and Spanish should also include a title in English.

However, if requested, the use of Slavonic and other Iberian languages may be considered.

 

Publication

A selection of papers presented at the Conference may be included in the following CLEPUL publications:

1. Thematic Dossier of the Yearbook IberoSlavica 2019 (papers in English)

2. E-book monograph (papers in Portuguese).

Papers should be written and edited according to the CompaRespapertamplate (online), and entitled “paperproposal_IBS13_authorsurname_EN” or “propostaartigo_IBS13_apelidoautor_PT”.

All papers will be peer-reviewed.

The deadline for submission is 31st July, 2019.

Further information on publication will be available at https://clepulflul.wixsite.com/compares and www.iberian-slavonic.eu.

 

Registration

The registration period starts on 15th February, 2019. The fee for participation with a scientific presentation is 70€ before 1st April, and 100€ after it.

The fee includes the conference certificate and materials, and lunches and coffee/tea breaks, and should be paid by:

1. Bank deposit or transfer to the Montepio Mutuality:

NIB: 0036.0071.99100092460.71

IBAN: PT50.0036.0071.9910.0092.4607.1

BIC/SWIFT: MPIOPTPL

1. Cheque to the order of IECCPMA – Instituto Europeu de Ciências da Cultura Padre Manuel Antunes

2. PayPal, making a previous request to ieccpma@gmail.com.

Payment confirmations should then be sent to ibs.annualconference@gmail.com.

The organizers can only provide financial assistance to keynote-speakers, so self-proposed participants are kindly requested to cover their own travel, accommodation and other expenses.

 

Updates

Updates on the Conference, including the Conference Programme, will be sent from April 2019 onwards. They will also be available on the conference websites https://clepulflul.wixsite.com/compares and www.iberian-slavonic.eu.

Should you have any other queries, please contact us at ibs.annualconference@gmail.com. It is always a pleasure to be able to help!