EXTENDED DEADLINE CfP Socare Symposium “Governance and Rights: Law, Religion, and Sexuality in Caribbean Literature and Culture”

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Venue: University of Salzburg

Organizers: Christopher F. Laferl, Ralph Poole, Philipp Seidel

Date: 23 – 25 November 2017

The Caribbean is distinguished for its great political and cultural diversity, which not only is discernable by various languages, but also by the multiplicity of religions, social norms and values, and legal systems. Although Latin America continues to be regarded as a Catholic continent, the situation in the Caribbean is more complex. On the one hand, the Catholic Church competes against traditional Protestant churches, on the other hand both are distinct from (syncretistic) Afro Caribbean religions as well as increasingly from evangelical Pentecostal churches. This religious and cultural mixture poses serious challenges to the state, the society, the legal system, but also to the arts and literature. The various types of governmental and legal systems largely date back to differing traditions of (previous) colonial powers. While the (former) British territories rely on the Anglo-Saxon Common Law, the other territories follow continental European legal systems. And yet, these orders only make up the outer framework within which the people of a state move and act. How individuals and/or various collectives actually live together and how their attitudes and behavior towards the state and other institutions are shaped, all this underlies a continuous process of negotiation that can take on multifarious forms.

Against this backdrop the focus of the junior scholar conference of the Society of Caribbean Research (Socare) lies on questions concerning governance and rights. Not only the (in)stable, democratic or authoritarian governments play an important role, but also the specific means of governing. Besides the actual political players, who justify their position and actions and take on responsibility, economic, social and religious institutions also have a great importance in matters of shaping the communal lives of their societies, especially when politics cannot offer effective solutions or when the success of their implementations remains questionable. Furthermore, what is at stake is the question in how far the principle of non-discrimination, which since the Enlightenment has been reclaimed for more and more areas of identity also on a supranational level, is being realized by the single states and in social practice. Especially with regard to observing the various non-discriminatory regulations there are still (or again?) great differences concerning gender, ethnicity, class, and sexuality, not least since several categories of identity are often in (open) conflict with one another.

The following questions may serve as framework for the conference’s topic:

  • How do modern life concepts that are characterized by a will to self-determination conform to current developments in Caribbean societies? In what ways do literature and other arts reflect these developments?
  • How are problems concerning discrimination, ostracism, suppression and violence being dealt with? What solutions are being offered and by whom?
  • How is sexuality, broadly understood as encompassing pre/extramarital sex, abortion, same-sex sexuality, sex trade, etc., being treated?
  • How do the creative artists deal with minority groups, what positions do they take on?
  • How do the various legal and belief systems react to the principle of non-discriminatory self-determination? In what ways to these systems affect different levels of society?
  • What influence do migratory processes have on these negotiations?
  • What significance do writers and artists play, and what location have they chosen to write/speak/produce from?
  • What is the function of hate speech and victimization in literary, musical, and other creative art forms?

We invite junior scholars from all areas and disciplines of Caribbean Studies to participate. Interdisciplinary contributions from legal and theological sciences are also most welcome. The contributions should not exceed the limit of 20 minutes.

Those interested should send a half-page abstract in either German, English, Spanish, or French along with a short bio to Philipp Seidel (philipp.seidel@sbg.ac.at) by April 30, 2017. Please state the preferred language for your talk and what other languages you feel comfortable with. The conference’s languages will be chosen according to the selected contributions. The contributors will be informed in time.

New arrival: CariCen Volume 1

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The new volume of CariCen has arrived.

Click HERE for further information.

New arrival: Mémoires transmédiales: Geschichte und Gedächtnis in der Karibik und ihrer Diaspora

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The collection Mémoires transmédiales: Geschichte und Gedächtnis in der Karibik und ihrer Diaspora has officially arrived.

HERE you may find further information on the book, HERE you may go to the homepage of the publisher.

New journal: CariCen

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CariCen, un esfuerzo académico generado desde la Facultad de Ciencias Políticas y Sociales de la UNAM, se propone fortalecer el conocimiento y la difusión del análisis y los debates sobre el Caribe y Centroamérica, construir un espacio en donde se aborden los problemas contemporáneos por los que atraviesan estas sociedades, con un enfoque integral, multi e interdisciplinario. Buscamos que este sea el punto en donde confluyan los especialistas a nivel internacional sobre ambas regiones, para debatir sus investigaciones y enriquecer los saberes. Se plantea promover el conocimiento tanto en el ámbito nacional como internacional para, a mediano plazo, convertir la revista en un sitio de referencia obligada para quienes quieran entender la realidad de estas naciones.

CariCen está avalada por un consejo editorial integrado por reconocidos especialistas en los estudios del Caribe y Centroamérica, y se concibe dirigida a intelectuales, académicos, estudiantes, políticos y público en general. Se publican trabajos inéditos en español, inglés o francés.

LINK

Announcement: Gary Victor in Trier

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VHS Trier | 20.03.2017 | 19:00 Uhr | Domfreihof (Raum 05) | Eintritt frei

In Zusammenarbeit mit dem Litradukt Verlag und der Volkshochschule laden Dr. Christine Felbeck und Prof. Dr. Andre Klump vom America Romana Centrum der Universität Trier zu einer zweisprachigen Lesung des haitianischen Schriftstellers Gary Victor ein. Die Veranstaltung ist der vierte Teil einer Lesereihe weltweit renommierter haitianischer Autorinnen und Autoren, die ihre literarischen Werke in Trier vorstellen.

Der 1958 in Port-au-Prince geborene Gary Victor, von Beruf ursprünglich grarwissenschaftler, ist heute der im eigenen Land populärste und zugleich subversivste haitianische Gegenwartsautor Haitis. Außer Romanen, Erzählungen und Theaterstücken, für die er mit mehreren Preisen ausgezeichnet wurde (u.a. Prix du livre RFO, Prix littéraire des Caraïbes), schreibt er auch Beiträge für Rundfunk und Fernsehen, die in Haiti regelmäßig für Aufregung sorgen. Victors Werke zeugen von seiner überreichen Phantasie ebenso wie von seinem scharfen, bisweilen makabren Blick auf die Gesellschaft. Im deutschsprachigen Raum wurde er vor allem durch die Kriminalromane um Inspektor Azémar, dem Dirty Harry von Port-au-Prince, bekannt. Seine Krimis Schweinezeiten und Soro konnten sich auf der Bestenliste der ZEIT und der Litprom Weltempfänger platzieren. „Ein Autor, von dem man gern mehr lesen würde“, schrieb der Münchner Merkur. Der Wunsch kann in Trier erfüllt werden. Bei seinem ersten Auftritt in Deutschland präsentiert Gary Victor seinen neuesten Vodoo-Krimi, der im Trierer Litradukt Verlag erschienen ist:

Inspektor Dieuswalwe Azémar ist ein Ausnahmepolizist, der die abstrusesten Fälle aufgeklärt hat. Da er sich aber der allgemeinen Korruption verweigert, gilt er als Versager, dem nur noch der Alkohol Trost spenden kann. Aus seiner Vorliebe für den aromatisierten Zuckerrohrschnaps namens soro hat der Inspektor in der Tat nie einen Hehl gemacht, weshalb ihn die ihm von seinem neuen Vorgesetzten verordnete Entziehungskur auch besonders hart trifft. Ausgerechnet in seinem entzugsgeschwächten Zustand wird er mit einem neuen Fall konfrontiert, der ihm alles abverlangt. Die Spur führt zum UN-Militärkontingent in Haiti. Was verbirgt sich hinter dem angeblichen Selbstmord eines Generals? Wer hat den Sohn einer der mächtigsten Familien des Landes entführt? Was hat der Bandenchef mit dem seltsamen Namen Raskolnikow damit zu tun? Als Azémar begreift, wie alles zusammenhängt, kann er sich ein weiteres Mal nur auf seine Beretta und seine Reflexe verlassen…

Kontakt: arc@uni-trier.de, www.america-romana.de

New arrival: Felbeck & Klump (2017): Dominicanidad / Dominicanity Perspectivas de un concepto (trans-)nacional / Perspectives on a (trans-)national concept

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With about 20 articles from researchers from Europe, the United States and the Dominican Republic, this interdisciplinary and international volume offers a current panorama of the research on dominicanity as a (trans-)national concept in global, insular and national contexts. The studies are largely a result of a congress organized by the America Romana Centrum (ARC) of the University of Trier in 2014.

See: LINK

CfP Socare Symposium “Governance and Rights: Law, Religion, and Sexuality in Caribbean Literature and Culture”

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Venue: University of Salzburg

Organizers: Christopher F. Laferl, Ralph Poole, Philipp Seidel

Date: 23 – 25 November 2017

 

The Caribbean is distinguished for its great political and cultural diversity, which not only is discernable by various languages, but also by the multiplicity of religions, social norms and values, and legal systems. Although Latin America continues to be regarded as a Catholic continent, the situation in the Caribbean is more complex. On the one hand, the Catholic Church competes against traditional Protestant churches, on the other hand both are distinct from (syncretistic) Afro Caribbean religions as well as increasingly from evangelical Pentecostal churches. This religious and cultural mixture poses serious challenges to the state, the society, the legal system, but also to the arts and literature. The various types of governmental and legal systems largely date back to differing traditions of (previous) colonial powers. While the (former) British territories rely on the Anglo-Saxon Common Law, the other territories follow continental European legal systems. And yet, these orders only make up the outer framework within which the people of a state move and act. How individuals and/or various collectives actually live together and how their attitudes and behavior towards the state and other institutions are shaped, all this underlies a continuous process of negotiation that can take on multifarious forms.

 

Against this backdrop the focus of the junior scholar conference of the Society of Caribbean Research (Socare) lies on questions concerning governance and rights. Not only the (in)stable, democratic or authoritarian governments play an important role, but also the specific means of governing. Besides the actual political players, who justify their position and actions and take on responsibility, economic, social and religious institutions also have a great importance in matters of shaping the communal lives of their societies, especially when politics cannot offer effective solutions or when the success of their implementations remains questionable. Furthermore, what is at stake is the question in how far the principle of non-discrimination, which since the Enlightenment has been reclaimed for more and more areas of identity also on a supranational level, is being realized by the single states and in social practice. Especially with regard to observing the various non-discriminatory regulations there are still (or again?) great differences concerning gender, ethnicity, class, and sexuality, not least since several categories of identity are often in (open) conflict with one another.

 

The following questions may serve as framework for the conference’s topic:

  • How do modern life concepts that are characterized by a will to self-determination conform to current developments in Caribbean societies? In what ways do literature and other arts reflect these developments?
  • How are problems concerning discrimination, ostracism, suppression and violence being dealt with? What solutions are being offered and by whom?
  • How is sexuality, broadly understood as encompassing pre/extramarital sex, abortion, same-sex sexuality, sex trade, etc., being treated?
  • How do the creative artists deal with minority groups, what positions do they take on?
  • How do the various legal and belief systems react to the principle of non-discriminatory self-determination? In what ways to these systems affect different levels of society?
  • What influence do migratory processes have on these negotiations?
  • What significance do writers and artists play, and what location have they chosen to write/speak/produce from?
  • What is the function of hate speech and victimization in literary, musical, and other creative art forms?

 

We invite junior scholars from all areas and disciplines of Caribbean Studies to participate. Interdisciplinary contributions from legal and theological sciences are also most welcome. The contributions should not exceed the limit of 20 minutes.

 

Those interested should send a half-page abstract in either German, English, Spanish, or French along with a short bio to Philipp Seidel (philipp.seidel@sbg.ac.at) by March 15, 2017. Please state the preferred language for your talk and what other languages you feel comfortable with. The conference’s languages will be chosen according to the selected contributions. The contributors will be informed in time.

Call for Entries VI International Colloquium The Cultural Diversity in the Caribbean “Memory and Border Conflicts” Centro de Estudios del Caribe, Casa de las Américas May 22-26, 2017

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La Casa de las Américas, a través de su Centro de Estudios del Caribe, lo invita a participar en el Coloquio Internacional La Diversidad Cultural en el Caribe, a celebrarse entre el 22 y el 26 mayo de 2017. En su sexta edición, el evento se propone abordar las diversas aristas que genera el tema “Memoria y conflictos de frontera”.

Casa de las Américas, through its Centro de Estudios del Caribe, invites you to participate in  the International Colloquium on Cultural Diversity in the Caribbean, to be held between the 22  and the 26 of May 2017. In its sixth edition, the event will address the various aspects generated by the theme “Memory and border conflicts”.

La Casa de las Américas, à travers son Centro de Estudios del Caribe, vous invite à participer  au Colloque International La Diversité Culturelle à la Caraïbe qui se tiendra du 22 au 26 mai  2017. Pour sa sixième édition, l’événement propose d’aborder les différents angles du thème “Mémoire et conflits de frontiers”.

 

Deadline: March 15, 2017

Contact: seccaribe@casa.cult.cu

Full CfP: http://call-for-entries-cultural-diversity-memories

“Dancehall und Homophobie. Postkoloniale Blicke auf die Geschichte und Kultur Jamaikas” Thursday, December 8, 2016 (16:00-17:30, Hörsaal XII, Hauptgebäude, Universität zu Köln)

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Dr. Patrick Helber analysiert die mediale Kontroverse um Dancehall-Musik und Homophobie aus dem Jahr 2004 und ordnet sie in den historischen, politischen und kulturellen Kontext des postkolonialen jamaikanischen Staates ein. Neben einem Blick auf die Geschichte der Insel beleuchtet er die Widerstandskulturen von den Maroons und den Rastafari bis zu den »Gangstern« der zeitgenössischen Dancehall-Musik. Dieser Vortrag betont die Präsenz und politische Arbeit von sexuellen Minderheiten auf Jamaika und veranschaulicht, inwiefern bei internationalen Kampagnen gegen Homophobie im globalen Süden neokoloniale Machtkonstellationen und Alterisierungsprozesse eine Rolle spielen.

 

Vortrag von Dr. Patrick Helber, Berlin

 

Der Vortrag findet statt im Rahmen des Seminars ‚Kultur und Mobilität in der Karibik‘, geleitet von Dr. Sinah Kloß

 

http://gssc.uni-koeln.de/node/1355

Université d’été „Littératures caribéennes et globalisation“ — Escuela de Verano „Literaturas caribeñas y globalización“ — Summer School Caribbean „Literature and Globalisation“

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full CfP including french and spanish version: cfp_summer-school_carib_fr_esp_eng-1

 

Since the initial phase of accelerated globalisation, the Caribbean has been affected by the clash of Amerindian, European and African cultures. Added to these later on were Asian and North American cultures, making the Caribbean a unique place in the study of hybridisation, creolisation and transculturation processes that have arisen since the end of the 20th and beginning of 21st centuries. Countries in the Caribbean, and their respective societies, are at the heart of complex transnational networks that tie together a multitude of inter- and extra-Caribbean spaces within a constant circulation of people, cultural artefacts and knowledge. This flux has intensified with the radical changes that have come about in the fields of technology, economics, politics, and languages. The expansion of the world wide and digital revolution have once again highlighted how the Caribbean is interwoven with other parts of the world, creating at the same time new possibilities of connection between the Caribbean and its other diasporas.

Our summer school will attempt to analyse effect of globalisation processes on the current field of Caribbean literature.

Firstly, we will look at the position occupied by Caribbean literature and at the various strategies used to promote it on the international literature market, bearing in mind all the while the sociological and economic factors that come along with its global distribution.

A second line of research that the summer school will attempt to develop will be that of the transformation and re-codification of poetic and literary genres in the current phase of accelerated globalisation.

A third line of research will focus specifically on new means of communication. It will look at how digital tools have expanded or transformed the context of literature within the Caribbean context, offering up new possibilities for interaction, artistic creation and archiving of knowledge.

Finally, we will look at the complex and ambivalent relationships that Caribbean writers maintain with mass culture as a place for representing the various cultures of the Caribbean.

The interdisciplinary summer school Caribbean literature and globalisation is organised by the Literature Department of the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Lyon (ENS) and the Literature Faculty of the University of Constance. Academics and guest artists from the Caribbean, Germany and the United States will participate in the summer school.

Speakers:

Kelly Baker Josephs (York College, CUNY/ Williams College)

Gesine Müller (Université de Cologne)

Catalina Quesada Gómez (University of Miami)

 

 

This summer university will include content from Literary Studies and Cultural & Sociological Studies faculties, and will be aimed at Master’s as well as doctorate students from the disciplines in question. Participants will have the opportunity to improve and extend their individual knowledge of Caribbean Studies and to discuss their personal plans (for example, their university work or theses).

Participants of the summer school will receive a certificate of attendance.  Furthermore, master’s students from ENS Lyon and those from the University of Constance will be able to get their participation in the summer school approved as a research conference for 6 ECTS/5 ECTS.

Participants will have to prove that they have a good level in English and French or Castilian, as well as good university marks, which should be proven by a transcript of their master’s degree in one of the aforementioned disciplines. Alternatively, for those who have just begun a doctorate, they can submit an acceptance letter confirming their status as a doctorate student.

Potential students should send a covering letter in English, French or Castilian (about 2 pages long,  Word or PDF, 1.5 line spacing, font size 12) detailing the aforementioned skills as well as their personal motivation and how this fits in with the specialisms offered by the summer university. The final date for applications is 28 February 2017 and these should be sent to miriam.lay-brander@uni-konstanz.de and cyril.vettorato@ens-lyon.fr .