Home is a key arena where changes in contemporary societies become a lived experience for the individual. Forms of homemaking can be regarded as a way of dealing with social transformations, whether by positing home as a safe space immune to change, or by adapting it to the requirements of modernization and globalization. The issue of (voluntary or forced) mobility looms large in debates on home, as, for instance, the current migration crisis or the demand for maximum flexibility and mobility of employees in the neoliberal economy shows.
The title of this 2-day-symposium, Mobilizing home(s), pertains to both the dimension of physical mobility and to the ideological work ‘home’ performs when it is mobilized in specific discourses (e.g. nationalism). We are particularly interested in what the arts bring to the table: how may aesthetic artefacts dealing with home inspire the development of theory? While the dominant focus is thus on literary and cultural studies, we also welcome contributions from other disciplines that open up a dialogue on theorizations of home.
The symposium will consist of academic paper presentations (oral) and two keynote lectures.
Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), Aarhus University, Buildings 1630-1632, Høegh-Guldbergs Gade 6B, 8000 Aarhus C, Denmark. See location on a map.
Laura Bieger, University of Freiburg, Germany
Julia Leyda, NTNU Trondheim, Norway
The symposium is open to all; academics, students and the general public, and participation is free of charge. If you wish to attend the symposium and lunch (sandwich) and coffee breaks (free of charge), prior registration is necessary.
REGISTER HERE BY 4 SEPTEMBER 2017: CLOSED.
We are looking for papers that develop new approaches to home in contemporary culture. We expect contributions mainly from scholars of literature, media and the arts, but also welcome papers from other disciplines that open up a dialogue on theorizations of home. Specific approaches we are interested in include, but are not limited to new economic criticism, biopolitics, disability studies, gender studies, critical race theory, ecocriticism, narrative theory and new formalism.
READ THE FULL CALL FOR PAPERS HERE.
Deadline: 15 January 2016.
The symposium is organized and co-funded by:
Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS), Aarhus University, Denmark
University of Koblenz-Landau, Germany
