Pivotal for the history of aesthetics are the encounters between philosophy and tragedy that span from Ancient Greece to the decolonizing Caribbean. Ever since its infamous exclusion in Plato’s Republic and its theorisation in Aristotle’s Poetics, tragedy has played a number of often contrasting roles in philosophy’s own self-understanding. Tragedy has variously been conceived as an origin of philosophical (and dialectical) thought, as a limit to philosophy’s efforts at intellectual sovereignty, as well as a constant source of ethical exemplification and conceptual instruction. While conscious of the stakes of philosophy’s image of tragedy, this conference will try to expand its purview to look beyond and beneath a late-eighteenth early-nineteenth century idea of the tragic which has often come to saturate reflection on this relationship. Tragedy and Philosophy will therefore also seek to consider a variety of themes that transcend the equation between tragedy and the tragic, including: the contribution of anthropology and history to an understanding of the specificity of Greek tragedy; the place of femininity, lament and conflict in ancient Greek tragedies; the relation between music and words in tragedy, and its philosophical significance (including in tragedy’s repetition by modern opera); the early modern emergence of a poetics of tragedy irreducible to Aristotelian and Idealist or Romantic variants; tragedy as a reflection on sovereignty; tragedy as an art intimately linked to moments of crisis and transition.

The conference will alternate sessions that delve into specific tragedies and theories of tragic drama with ones that explore the place of tragedy in the work of different philosophers and philosophical schools, ranging from Ancient Greek and Roman philosophy to the contemporary work of authors from Jacques Derrida and Judith Butler to Stanley Cavell, Martha Nussbaum and Édouard Glissant, while also considering the various ‘rebirths’ of tragedy in the Renaissance, early modernity, the nineteenth-century aftermath of revolutions and the interwar period in the 20th century.

Selected papers will be published as an edited collection or special journal issue.

PAPERS

In keeping with the above description, proposals for 20 minute papers are invited in all areas pertaining to the nexus of tragedy and philosophy (e.g. tragedy and critical theory, political philosophy, metaphysics, theology, ethics, etc.). Please send abstracts of not more than 250 words together with a brief (50-100 word) biographical statement including affiliation, status (student or not) and contact details to: j.ng [at] gold.ac.uk and a.toscano [at] gold.ac.uk. Please also direct any questions to these addresses.

CONFERENCE ORGANISERS

Julia Ng and Alberto Toscano, CPCT, Goldsmiths, University of London

1.2 CFP: Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum

A Two-day Virtual Conference (Zoom)

Date: November 13-14, 2020

Organizers: Siham Bouamer (Sam Houston State University) and Loic Bourdeau (University of Louisiana-Lafayette)

In 2017 and 2019, the “Diversity, Decolonization, and the German Curriculum” (DDGC) collective brought together scholars in German studies “to discuss pedagogical approaches, course design, and instructional materials […] to make […] classrooms more inclusive and reflective of the diversity of […] students.” Following those conversations, Regine Criser and Ervin Malakaj, the two co-founders of the collective, gathered and published essays which seek “(1) to examine German Studies curricular models against the backdrop of diversity and decolonization discourses and (2) to offer curricular models, which help facilitate criticality in the spirit of diversity and decolonization discourses by connecting German Studies with critical race, gender, sexuality, migration, Indigenous, and disability studies” (p. 17). More recently, the Institute of Modern Languages Research (IMLR) organized a conference on “Decolonizing Modern Languages” (postponed due to COVID-19), with similar goals.

During this two-day virtual conference, the goal of the “Diversity, Decolonization, and the French Curriculum” (DDFC) is to provide, as a newly founded collective, a space for scholars, instructors, and practitioners to continue similar conversations in French and Francophone studies; to investigate and share strategies and ideas to diversify and decolonize the curriculum. Following the event, we plan to follow the DDGS example and put together a volume of essays.

We invite proposals for 15-minute presentations, panels, or workshops from scholars, instructors, or practitioners in French studies. Topics may include, but are not limited to:

Accessibility/Disability studies
Beyond/Reassessing the Literary Canon
Black and ethnic studies in the French curriculum
Decolonizing the French curriculum
Dealing with the “fallen” artists (e.g., Céline, Polanski, etc.)
Diversifying the French curriculum
Feminism and Intersectionality
Language épicène in the French classroom and curriculum
Social and economic justice
The place of the colonial past in the curriculum
Trigger warning, microaggressions and the French classroom
Queering French studies: teaching, research, service

Abstract of 250 words (+ short biography) in French or English should be sent to Siham Bouamer (sbouamer@shsu.edu) and Loic Bourdeau (loic.bourdeau@louisiana.edu) by June 30, 2020. Selected contributors will be notified within two weeks of the deadline. Questions/inquiries are most welcome.

1.3 Connecting Memories 2020 Symposium with Postgraduate Masterclass – CfP DEADLINE EXTENDED

This one-day event exploring memory as a transdisciplinary research object, and the multitude of ways of approaching it as such, is scheduled to take place on Monday, 29th June 2020 in 50 George Square, Edinburgh. While, given the present circumstances, it is uncertain whether the event will be able to go ahead as planned, we will not be cancelling it. We are currently considering the options of postponing the event or holding it remotely.

As well as offering networking opportunities, the event will primarily be composed of sessions consisting of short presentations, in which speakers present their research and methods, as well as a keynote lecture by Professor Astrid Erll (Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt a. M.). In addition, Prof Erll will hold a masterclass for postgraduate students.

If the event takes place physically, a number of bursaries will be available to cover or contribute towards delegates travel costs.

We welcome proposals for 5-minute micro-presentations from PG students, ECRs and established academics. These should be submitted by 1st May 2020 to info@connectingmemories.org as a max. 200-word abstract in English as well as a short bio.

1.4 Appel à contributions pour revue French Studies in Southern Africa (Études françaises en Afrique australe): Les manifestes littéraires et artistiques d’Afrique francophone: formes et enjeux

Numéro spécial coordonné par Laude Ngadi Maïssa, Markus Arnold, Bernard De Meyer, Emmanuel Mbégane Ndour

Depuis la formule devenue célèbre de Claude Abastado, « le manifeste, donc, c’est protée »[1], il est admis que le manifeste est un genre multiforme. Outre la forme canonique qui permet de facilement l’identifier par la mention « manifeste » dans le titre, l’hétérogénéité de ce genre argumentatif provient de sa proximité avec d’autres genres discursifs. Les critiques littéraires identifient alors comme « quasi-manifeste »[2] l’ensemble des seuils (préface, postface, prologue, conférence, entretien, etc.) qui servent à prendre des positions à propos des choix génériques, poétiques et esthétiques. Ils y insèrent comme manifeste « après coup » (Abastado) les œuvres métafictionnelles[3] qui se « distinguent par l’intégration des traits caractéristiques du manifeste, [évoquent] l’esprit d’avant-garde lié à ce genre, et avec lui, l’idée de la capacité qu’a la littérature d’agir sur la société »[4]. Ils y intègrent en outre l’essai[5], le pamphlet[6], l’anthologie[7], etc. Mais le manifeste se caractérise aussi par une dimension performative à travers laquelle l’auteur – entendu ici au sens générique – mène une action de légitimation de son œuvre ou d’un collectif. L’hétérogénéité du manifeste et sa dimension performative ont pour dénominateur commun de mettre en lumière des idées fondatrices. Le genre consiste alors en la production d’un discours qui sert à contester des traditions et des normes afin de revendiquer des pratiques nouvelles et des codes originaux présentés comme distinctifs/représentatifs d’une modernité et davantage en phase avec le contemporain.

Pour mieux asseoir leurs prises des positions novatrices, les auteurs contestent la doxa esthétique et idéologique tout en situant leurs programmes dans un contexte socio-historique et géographique particulier. Aussi, la publication d’un manifeste répond nécessairement à des dynamiques[8] par lesquelles chaque discours manifestaire entend apporter un changement par rapport à une période, une idée, un auteur, un groupe, etc. L’objectif principal est celui de trouver, par des procédés argumentatifs (et plus généralement rhétoriques), l’adhésion d’un public dans son champ de production.

En tant que genres hétéroclites et en tant qu’actes, les manifestes représentent donc un objet d’étude particulier pour saisir l’évolution historique des littératures et dans la construction des champs ou des institutions littéraires[9]. Les rares études consacrées audit genre dans cet espace géographique concernent essentiellement les textes publiés à Paris, laissant ainsi dans l’oubli toutes les autres œuvres produites sur le continent. Ainsi, les manifestes du mouvement de la Négritude, qui correspondent à l’âge d’or du militantisme littéraire et artistique de l’Afrique et de sa diaspora, demeurent le repère par lequel on juge encore cette littérature. Les trois quarts des articles rassemblés dans le n° 29 de la revue Études littéraires africaines[10] concernent les « mouvements nègres » en France et aux États-Unis. S’y ajoute une lecture du Manifeste d’une nouvelle littérature africaine : pour une écriture préemptive (2004) de Patrice Nganang, de « Pour une littérature-monde en français » (2007) et de La Nouvelle chose française (2008) écrit par Nimrod. La publication d’un manifeste de l’écrivain et critique littéraire camerounais Lionel Manga, écrit à la demande de la coordinatrice du numéro, laisse présupposer l’absence d’un corpus abondant et divers.

Or, il suffit de consulter les bases de données en ligne dédiées aux littératures africaines (Mukanda, Littaf) et particulièrement aux manifestes littéraires et artistiques (Basemanart) pour se rendre compte de la richesse du corpus. Par ailleurs, quelques productions scientifiques mettent en évidence l’émergence d’autres groupes ou tendances littéraires comme La Fleuvitude, le Cercle Affo Akkom, La Nolica, etc. Ces travaux montrent par ailleurs que les textes marginalisés ou étouffés par des « scandales »[11] durant la période phare de la Négritude et récemment réhabilités peuvent, dans la mesure de la réinvention littéraire contemporaine, faire œuvre de manifestes. Ils témoignent dans cette perspective d’un changement de paradigme dans la conception de l’histoire littéraire de la région, du passage du régime de la collectivité à la « singularité en régime médiatique »[12]. Certains auteurs et critiques littéraires produisent en outre des manifestes qui s’apparentent à des essais théoriques dans lesquels leurs propres œuvres sont présentées comme des modèles d’innovation[13]. Mais d’autres manifestes et postures programmatiques se situent dans le cadre de « l’art qui manifeste »[14] : au sein de telles postures, les réflexions esthétiques sur la musique, la bande dessinée, le cinéma, la danse, la peinture apparaissent généralement indissociables des savoirs ou des engagements anthropologiques, sociologiques, politiques mobilisés.

Le présent volume souhaite recueillir des articles dont la principale problématique est de réfléchir à l’évolution des formes et des enjeux liés à la production manifestaire et programmatique des auteurs locaux et diasporiques originaires d’Afrique francophone. Dans le contexte général de la crise des idéologies et du manifeste annoncée par Claude Abastado, nous voudrons mettre en lumière les transformations structurelles du genre ainsi que celles des groupes littéraires et artistiques qui l’utilisent et le (re)pensent.

À partir des études de cas pris dans les domaines de la littérature et des arts, les contributions, adoptant des perspectives rhétorique, discursive, esthétique, sociologique, étudieront comment les auteurs mettent en avant, dans leurs manifestes ou textes programmatiques, diverses problématiques artistiques, culturelles, linguistiques, historiques, sociales ; mais les analyses pourront aussi s’intéresser à la diffusion et réception de ces productions.

Par l’approche rhétorique, il pourra s’agir de catégoriser le type de manifeste et de contribuer aux discussions à propos des nouvelles formes du genre qui vont bien au-delà de la mention « manifeste » dans le titre ou sur la couverture.
Les lectures thématique et discursive voudront montrer les divers enjeux – identitaires, politiques, sociaux, idéologiques – des œuvres ou groupes ainsi qu’à discuter des conditions d’émergence des manifestes et des stratégies ou postures d’auteurs. Les réflexions pourront porter sur les connivences ou les différences des discours relatifs à la nation, à l’étranger, à l’histoire littéraire ou artistique interrégionale ou transnationale.
Concernant la perspective esthétique, il sera question d’examiner la situation d’énonciation des textes, le mode réflexif des langages mis en œuvre et les coordonnées poétiques qui président à la démarcation ou au dissensus introduits par les manifestes. De même, les inscriptions politiques constituantes du genre ainsi que le projet préemptif porté par un style et une vision singulière des auteurs concernés feront l’objet d’une attention toute particulière.
En convoquant la perspective sociologique, on s’intéressera aux rapports qu’établissent et entretiennent ces œuvres avec les institutions littéraires et artistiques locales, régionales ou « métropolitaines » (Paris, Bruxelles, Montréal…) en étudiant par exemple les modes d’édition, de publication, de circulation et de réception de ces œuvres dans le contexte de la mondialisation.

***

Les propositions de contribution, environ 300 mots en français, ainsi qu’une note biobibliographique de 150 mots maximum, sont à soumettre à l’adresse manifeste.afr@gmail.com d’ici le 1 mai 2020.

Les articles définitifs (d’une longueur de 6000 mots) seront à remettre avant le 30 octobre 2020 pour la double évaluation par le comité de la revue et le comité de lecture constitué de spécialistes des différents corpus. Les consignes aux auteurs sont disponibles sur le site de la revue : https://journals.co.za/content/journal/french.

Comité scientifique

Ute Fendler (Universität Bayreuth)

Xavier Garnier (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle – Paris 3)

Susanne Gehrmann (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin)

Pierre Halen (Université de Lorraine)

Christine Le Quellec Cottier (Université de Lausanne)

Sylvère Mbondobari (Université Omar Bongo)

Florence Paravy (Paris 10 – Nanterre)

Claire Riffard (CNRS-France)

[1] Abastado, Claude. “Introduction à l’analyse des manifestes”. Littérature 39 (1980) : 5.

[2] Cf. Tomicka, Malgorzata. Programmes et manifestes littéraires en France au xix^e siècle. Wroclaw : Université de Wroclaw, 1990. Diaz, José-Luis. “Préface et manifestes du xix^e siècle : la réflexion critique comme ‘agir communicationnel’”. Revue des Sciences Humaines 295.3 (2009) : 9-16. Luneau, Marie-Pier & Saint-Amand, Denis, Eds. La Préface : formes et enjeux d’un discours d’escorte. Paris : Grasset, 2016.

[3] Wauch, Patricia. Metafiction. The theory and practice of self-conscious fiction. London & New-York : Routledge, 1984.

[4] Tjell, Mette. “Le manifeste sous l’emprise de la fiction : Le Caoutchouc décidément et Le Post-exotisme en dix leçons, leçon onze”. Études littéraires 3.44 (2013) : 96.

[5] Cf. Lenglet, Irène. Les Théories de l’essai dans la seconde moitié du XX^e siècle : domaine anglophone, francophone, germanophone. Synthèses et enjeux. Thèse de doctorat, Université de Rennes 2, dir. Jacques Dugast (déc. 1995) : 65.

[6] Cf. Angenot, Marc. La Parole pamphlétaire. Typologie des discours modernes. Paris : Payot, 1982 ; Dumasy, Lise & Massol, Chantal, Eds. Pamphlet, utopie, manifeste (XIX^e-XX^e siècle). Paris : L’Harmattan, 2001.

[7] Fraisse, Emmanuel. Les Anthologies en France. Paris : PUF, 1997.

[8] Cf. Groupe MDRN (« Modern »). “Pour une nouvelle approche de la dynamique littéraire (Pense-bête)”. Fabula-LhT 11 (déc. 2013). < http://www.fabula.org/lht/11/modern.html >.

[9] Bourdieu, Pierre. Les Règles de l’art. Genèse et structure du champ littéraire. Paris : Seuil, 1998.

[10] Delas, Daniel, Ed. Études Littéraires Africaines 29, « Manifestes et magistères » (2010). Cf. aussi Obszynski, Michał, Manifestes et programmes littéraires aux Caraïbes francophones : en/jeux idéologiques et poétiques. Amsterdam & New-York : Brill & Rodopi, 2016.

[11] Anyinefa, Koffi. “Scandales”. Cahiers d’études africaines 191 (2008). < https://journals.openedition.org/etudesafricaines/11912 >. Djiffack, André. “Du manifeste à la consécration : que de complots !”, ALA Bulletin : A Publication of the African Literature Association 24 (1998) : 14-24. Mongo-Mboussa, Boniface. “Yambo Ouologuem et la littérature mondiale : plagiat, réécriture, collage, dérision et manifeste littéraire”.Africultures 54.1 (2003) : 23-27.

[12] Heinich, Nathalie. De la visibilité. Excellence et singularité en régime médiatique. Paris : Gallimard, 2012.

[13] E.g. Mongo Pabe. La NOLICA : la nouvelle littérature camerounaise : du maquis à la cité. Yaoundé : Presses Universitaires de Yaoundé, 2005.

[14] Larue, Anne, Ed. L’Art qui manifeste (revue Itinéraires et contacts de cultures). Paris : L’Harmattan, 2008. Cf. aussi le numéro “Le manifeste à travers les arts : devenirs d’un genre indiscipliné”. Itinéraires 2018.1.

1.5 CfP: Arab Stardom: Transnational Glamour and Empowerment

Arab Stardom: Transnational Glamour and Empowerment

Edited by Kaya Davies Hayon and Stefanie Van De Peer

Arab cinema is often discussed in terms of political representation and independent art film, but rarely in terms of stardom, glamour, performance or masquerade. Aside from a few individual studies on female stardom or aspects of Arab masculinity, no major English-language study on Arab stardom exists, and collections on transnational stars or world cinema often neglect to include Arab performers. This new book, provisionally titled Arab Stardom: Transnational Glamour and Performance, seeks to address this gap in the scholarship by providing the first study dedicated entirely to Arab stardom on screen. Building on the work of star studies scholars such as Richard Dyer, Russell Meeuf and Raphael Raphael, Andrea Bandhauer and Michelle Royer and Sabrina Qiong-Yu, this collection will provide contextual analyses of off-screen representation, as well as close textual analyses of films and star personas, thereby offering an in-depth study of the Arab star as text and context of Arab cinema. Using the tools of audience reception studies, the collection will look at how stars are viewed and received in different cultural contexts, both within and outside of the Arabic-speaking world.

We invite contributions from scholars exploring Arab stardom from historical, theoretical and philosophical approaches. The collection seeks to outline local and regional histories of Arab stardom as well as the increasingly global and transnational works of Arab stars in the contemporary era. Proposals should be sent to the editors by Friday 19 June 2020. Full chapters should be around 6,000 words each (not including bibliographies) and should be sent to the editors by 19 April 2021. A major University Press has indicated a strong interest in the proposed volume.

Chapters might include:

– transnational approaches to Arab stars and stardom;

– studies of major stars, such as Umm Kolthoum, Fayrouz, Biyouna or Samia Gamal;

– discussions of diva-dom, glamour and masquerade;

– analyses of the significance of the Egyptian star firmament, including, among many others, Omar Sharif, Faten Hamama, Hind Rostom, Nadia Lutfi, Farid Shawqi, Mohamed Mounir and Amr Waked;

– discussions of globally emerging Arab stars such as Nadine Labaki, Bassem Youssef, Ali Sulman, Rami Malek, Hafsia Herzi and others;

– audience reception of Arab stars in different contexts;

– philosophical or theoretical approaches that prioritise phenomenological or affective responses to Arab stars

We have already received proposals for chapters on Soad Hosny, Loubna Azabal, Jamel Debbouze, and Hiam Abbass so we’d encourage interested scholars to think beyond these stars. We would welcome contributions from scholars with expertise in the area, and especially hope to include contributions from women scholars, scholars from the Arab world, early career researchers, or scholars from diverse cultural backgrounds that are underrepresented in academia.

Please send proposals for chapters as a Word document, including title, 300-word abstract, researcher’s full name, title, institutional affiliation (if possible) and short bio (max 100 words) to Stefanie Van De Peer (stefanievandepeer@gmail.com) or Kaya Davies Hayon (kdavieshayon@lincoln.ac.uk) by Friday 19 June 2020.

1.6 Workshop on French Studies and Employability – Call for Contributions Deadline Extended

AFLS Workshop on French Studies and Employability

University of East Anglia (Norwich), Postponed to Friday 27^th November 2020 (date to be confirmed).

Call for Contributions – DEADLINE EXTENDED TO WEDNESDAY 1 JULY.

Are we preparing our students for the professional work? In his foreword to Employability: a Handbook, Mike Kelly reports that “recent research for the ‘Born Global’ project suggests that languages are not identified as a priority by employers at the time when staff are recruited. Applicants for jobs need to satisfy other priorities at that point. The language advantage comes into play at a later stage”1. Fluency in French is of course a prerequisite for industries such as translation or MFL teaching, but many graduates will not use French at the beginning of their future career. They will, however, certainly use the acute problem solving, proofreading, public speaking and many more skills they also developed while at university. They might also use some technical skills developed during their French degree, such as video/audio file editing, or text analysis tools.

An AFLS workshop on French Studies and Employability will take place at the University of East Anglia (Norwich) or online at the end of 2020, and are looking for contributions from colleagues who could either present a research paper on the topic, or an activity/project they run in class with a particular focus on transferable skills awareness, or on the development of technical skills.

If you are interested, please send a 200 word abstract in French or English to Claire Cuminatto (c.cuminatto@uea.ac.uk) before Wednesday 1 July.

1.7 Call for Contributions – ‘The Dawn Chorus: songs of time and place’

Expressions of interest are invited from African and/or Caribbean scholars, artists, writers and other creatives to contribute to this original and exciting new book titled ‘The Dawn Chorus: songs of time and place’ edited by Mike Collier, artist and Professor of Visual Art at the University of Sunderland. Contributions should focus on birdsong and/or the dawn chorus in African and/or Caribbean locales. Below is an overview of the book and interested persons should get in touch with Professor Collier directly for further discussions – mike.collier@sunderland.ac.uk

There is an established understanding that birdsong is rooted on the premise that each singing bird is only, or predominantly, concerned with intra-specific communication. Yet, on listening to the mass of birds singing at dawn we have intuitively described the phenomenon as a chorus. A close analysis of the whole auditory scene suggests inter-specific
structure as well as intra-specific relationships, giving rise to the ‘chorus’ impression, rather than random cacophony.

Transcriptions of birdsong date back to antiquity and imitations of it feature in every culture’s music. However, ‘hearing music in birdsong’ can be little more than a projection of human codes and conventions on to the natural world, avoiding the radical unknowability of this more-than-human world. The creative work presented in this volume reconfigures ways in which the more-than-human is spatially experienced and understood. Such an approach is crucial as we seek alternative narratives to urgently address our current ecological crisis.

This book will look at how the arts can represent bird song in general and the dawn chorus specifically in ways that underline each chorus’s specific nature of space and place whilst avoiding the trap of projecting human phenomena onto the more-than-human world. It will also examine the relationship between the natural world, its specific cultures and cultural
ecologies, and our own sense of culture and of cultures. It loosely describes how individual bird species interact through song – specifically though not exclusively, in the dawn chorus – and it explores ways of visually and musically re-invoking these patterns of cultural interaction in a more-than-human world.

The book offers a mixture of interdisciplinary writing and visual images with CDs around these issues; poetry/prose; field notes; personal experiences of a dawn chorus/birdsong; a visual chapter with some of the images from the project; a discussion about animal musicalities and the way people interpret their songs/music; a study of birdsong within the context of current theories around ecomusicology; the relationship of birds to the human in our more-than-human-world.

The book is being prepared and edited by Mike Collier, Professor of Visual Art at Sunderland University, assisted by Prof John Strachan, Dean of Graduate College, Bath Spa University, and Dr Bennett Hogg, Lecturer of Music at Newcastle University. It will be published jointly by Art Editions North, Bath Spa University and possibly Gaia Publications (currently under discussion) . It will be full colour, printed on semi matt paper, with approx. 300 pages, hard back and will be internationally distributed by Cornerhouse Publications.

Please send expressions of interest to Professor Mike Collier – mike.collier@sunderland.ac.uk by 30th April 2020.

Final work for the book could include prose pieces (which can be experimental writing) of approx. 1000 words and/or short or long poems. Again, we would welcome experimental poetry.

1.8 Winthrop-King conference: Postcolonial Realms of Memory

Postcolonial Realms of Memory: Sites and Symbols in the Modern Francosphere

Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone Studies

International conference

8-9 October, 2020

Call for papers

Invited speakers:

Étienne Achille (Villanova University)

Charles Forsdick (University of Liverpool)

Lydie Moudileno (University of Southern California)

Debarati Sanyal (University of California, Berkeley)

Hue-Tam Ho Tai (Harvard University)

Robert Young (New York University)

Recognized as one of the most influential studies of memory in the late twentieth century, Pierre Nora’s monumental project Les Lieux de mémoire has been celebrated for its elaboration of a ground-breaking paradigm for rethinking the relationship between the nation, territory, history and memory. It has also, however, been criticized for implying a narrow perception of national memory from which the legacy of colonialism was excluded.

Driven by an increasingly critical postcolonial discourse on French historiography and fueled by the will to acknowledge the relevance of the colonial in the making of modern and contemporary France, the volume Postcolonial Realms of Memory: Sites and Symbols in Modern France (Liverpool, 2020) addresses in a collective and sustained manner this critical gap by postcolonializing the French Republic’s lieux de mémoire. The various chapters discern and explore an initial repertoire of realms and sites in France and the so-called Outremer that crystalize traces of colonial memory, while highlighting its inherent dialectical relationship with firmly instituted national memory.

This conference seeks to consolidate and diversify further the volume’s work in making visible the thread that links the colonial to various manifestations of French heritage. The objective is to bring into sharp focus the ways in which the colonial aspect is inextricably intertwined with collective memory, and in particular to consider lieux de mémoire that are not covered in the volume, but which are also important parts of the network of sites and memories that have often been silenced by French national memory.

We therefore invite proposals for papers that share the volume’s intention to expand and rethink notions of French collective memory, and that additionally engage with the theme as it appears in colonial and postcolonial sites in the wider Francosphere.

Please submit your proposal by 30 April 2020: https://winthropking.fsu.edu/event/postcolonial-realms-memory-sites-and-symbols-modern-francosphere

1.9 Winthrop-King conference. Tokyo Stories: Writing the World with Michaël Ferrier

Tokyo Stories: Writing the World with Michaël Ferrier

Guest of honor: Michaël Ferrier

Invited speakers: Fabien Arribert-Narce (University of Edinburgh), Charles Forsdick (University of Liverpool), Robert Harvey (Stony Brook University), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London)

24-25 March, 2021

A skilled and perceptive chronicler of our times, the Franco-Mauritian author Michaël Ferrier is a rising star of world literature who has remained to date largely unknown outside of the Francophone world. His work, his life is made of crossings, of time and space, cultures and languages, genres and disciplines. This conference aims to discuss and assess Ferrier’s prolific and urgent work, an ever-expanding, crisscrossing corpus that includes fiction, essays, films, scholarly articles and books, and that engages with a broad range of issues, including disaster, colonialism, memory, friendship, childhood, and Franco-Japanese relations.

Born in Strasbourg, France in 1967, Ferrier’s rich family history extends to Mauritius, La Réunion, Madagascar, and India. After something of a nomadic childhood (he spent periods in Africa and the Indian Ocean), he gained entrance to the École Normale Supérieure, at the age of 18, where he passed the agrégation in literature and graduated from the University of Paris. He is currently Professor at Chuo University, Tokyo, Japan, and director of the Research Group Figures de l’Etranger.

Ferrier engages with critical issues in France, notably those concerning national and cultural identity, and his work argues for an expansive idea of France and French history, particularly in insisting on the continuing relevance of the colonial period in the present time. Ferrier has published several novels and essays, and his work is markedly interdisciplinary: he writes on literature, art, music and philosophy. He has also become one of the leading contemporary figures writing on relations between France and Japan. His first novel, Tokyo, petits portraits de l’aube (Gallimard, 2004), was awarded the Prix Littéraire de l’Asie in 2005. He has edited scholarly works, such as La Tentation de la France, la Tentation du Japon (Ed. Picquier, 2003), Maurice Pinguet, le Texte Japon, introuvables et inédits, (Ed. du Seuil, 2009), and is the author of numerous essays, including Japon: la Barrière des rencontres (Ed. Cécile Defaut, 2009). His novel Sympathie pour le Fantôme (Gallimard, 2010) explores the contradictions and complexity of French national identity, again in a Japanese context. This novel was awarded the Prix littéraire de la Porte Dorée. He also wrote in 2012 a major study of the Fukushima earthquake, and has lectured and written on the theme of art in a time of disaster. His 2015 novel Mémoires d’outre mer was reviewed in glowing terms by Le Monde: “It is one of the contemporary paradoxes that this book moreover brings brilliantly to light: those who are nostalgic for the empire on which the sun never sets are the most likely to reject the best products of the empire today. Mémoires d’outre-mer is undoubtedly one such glittering product.”

Ferrier’s particular background and trajectory make him difficult to classify; as a writer he is constantly evolving and in movement. That said, he is very much a writer of our times: winner of the 2012 Prix Edouard Glissant, and closely acquainted with Maryse Condé, Patrick Chamoiseau, and other Caribbean authors, he is something of a “Creole” author, though again, he cannot be reduced to that, or any, category (he wrote a very fine article on “Creole Japan,” and the reception of ideas of creolization in Japan). In the preface to the translation of Mémoires d’outre mer, Chamoiseau describes Ferrier as a writer of the Tout-monde; as Chamoiseau says, Ferrier “embraces the phenomenon” of the Tout-monde.

As a writer Michaël Ferrier has the good fortune not to fit comfortably into any academic pigeonhole. He is not exactly a Francophone writer nor a French writer. One might choose to avoid controversy by labeling him a little of both, but the more radical and possibly more fruitful assessment would be to argue that by virtue of his achievements he underscores the rather superficial nature of both categories. To study his work involves in a very real sense reexamining the nature and classifications of contemporary writing in France. He is an author of novels which possess a broad historical sweep (Mémoires d’outre-mer, 2015), while at the same time he remains willing to venture into the more intimate domain of auto-fiction (François, portrait d’un absent, 2018). Having achieved success as a novelist, he continues to nurture his reputation as an insightful scholar (Japon: Barrières des rencontres, 2015). An artist working in at least three areas whose work extends over at least three nations, Michaël Ferrier persists in raising questions and examining issues of great significance to the French both as individuals and members of the global community.

We invite proposals on any aspect of Ferrier’s work, including, for example:

Ferrier as novelist

The idea of the “roman vrai”

Ferrier as essayist

Ferrier and the French essayistic tradition

Ferrier as editor

Ferrier and Frenchness

Ferrier as “Creole” writer

Ferrier the filmmaker

Ferrier and cinema

Ferrier and music

Ferrier and the senses

Ferrier and the Tout-monde

The idea of the “Coral Writers”

Biography/Autobiography

Crossings

Friendship

Family

Death

Education

Anti-colonialism

Ferrier’s Paris/Paris’ Ferrier

Disaster

Ferrier and/in Japan

Ferrier’s Tokyo/Tokyo’s Ferrier

Ferrier’s Tokyo Time Table

Ferrier in/and translation

Please send proposals for papers and panels on these and other relevant themes by 30 September 2020 via the following link: https://winthropking.fsu.edu/event/tokyo-stories-writing-world-michael-ferrier-0

Organizers: Martin Munro and William Cloonan.

Voyages de Tokyo: Écrire le monde avec Michaël Ferrier

Invité d’honneur: Michaël Ferrier

Conférenciers invités: Fabien Arribert-Narce (University of Edinburgh), Charles Forsdick (University of Liverpool), Robert Harvey (Stony Brook University), Akane Kawakami (Birkbeck, University of London)

24-25 Mars 2021

Chroniqueur talentueux et perspicace de notre époque, l’écrivain Franco-Mauricien Michaël Ferrier est une star montante de la littérature mondiale qui reste jusqu’à ce jour très peu connu en dehors du monde francophone. Son œuvre et sa vie sont faits de traversées dans le temps et l’espace, de langues, de genres et de disciplines. Le but de cette conférence est de discuter et d’évaluer l’œuvre prolifique et pressante de Ferrier; une œuvre en constante évolution qui est à l’intersection de la fiction, l’essai, le cinéma, d’articles académiques, de livres, et qui s’intéresse à un large éventail de sujets tels que le désastre, le colonialisme, la mémoire, l’amitié, l’enfance, et les relations franco-nipponnes.

Né en 1967 à Strasbourg en France, la riche histoire familiale de Ferrier s’étend jusqu’à Maurice, à La Réunion, à Madagascar, et en Inde. Après une enfance quelque peu nomade (Il passe des séjours en Afrique et dans l’Océan Indien), à l’âge de 18 ans il intègre l’Ecole Normale Supérieure où il passe l’agrégation en littérature, et obtient son diplôme de l’Université de Paris. Il est actuellement Professeur à Chuo University à Tokyo au Japon où il dirige le groupe de recherche Figures de l’Etranger.

Ferrier s’interroge sur des questions cruciales en France, notamment celles concernant l’identité nationale et culturelle, et son œuvre défend une approche large de la France et de son histoire en insistant particulièrement sur l’impact durable de l’époque coloniale sur notre époque. Ferrier est l’auteur de plusieurs romans et essais, et son œuvre est manifestement interdisciplinaire : il écrit sur la littérature, l’art, la musique, et la philosophie. Il est aussi devenu l’une des figures de proue contemporaines à écrire sur les rapports entre la France et le Japon. Son premier roman Tokyo, petits portraits de l’aube (Gallimard, 2004), a remporté le Prix Littéraire de l’Asie en 2005. Il aussi est l’éditeur de plusieurs publications académiques telles que La Tentation de la France, la Tentation du Japon (Ed. Picquier, 2003), Maurice Pinguet, le Texte Japon, introuvables et inédits, (Ed. du Seuil, 2009), et l’auteur de nombreux essais dont Japon: la Barrière des rencontres (Ed. Cécile Defaut, 2009). Son roman Sympathie pour le Fantôme (Gallimard, 2010), qui a remporté le Prix littéraire de la Porte Dorée, examine les contradictions et la complexité de l’identité nationale française, encore une fois dans un contexte japonais. Il est aussi l’auteur d’une étude importante sur le tremblement de terre à Fukushima. Il a écrit des articles et donné des cours magistraux sur le thème de l’art en période de désastre. Son roman Mémoires d’outre-mer, publié en 2015, a reçu une critique élogieuse du journal Le Monde: « C’est l’un des paradoxes contemporains, d’ailleurs, que ce livre met brillamment au jour: les nostalgiques de l’empire sur lequel le soleil ne se couchait jamais sont les plus prompts à en refuser les meilleurs fruits aujourd’hui. Mémoires d’outre-mer resplendit d’être l’un deux, assurement.»

L’histoire et la trajectoire particulières de Ferrier le rendent difficile à classifier ; c’est un auteur qui bouge et évolue constamment. Cela dit, il est bel et bien un écrivain de notre époque : lauréat du Prix Edouard Glissant 2012 et très proche de Maryse Condé, Patrick Chamoiseau, et d’autres auteurs de la Caraïbe, il est en quelque sorte un écrivain « créole,» quoiqu’encore une fois il ne peut être réduit qu’à cela, ou à aucune catégorie d’ailleurs (il est l’auteur d’un excellent article sur « le Japon créole » et sur la réception des idées de la créolisation au Japon). Dans sa préface à la traduction de Mémoires d’outre-mer, Chamoiseau décrit Ferrier comme un auteur du Tout-monde : Ferrier « adopte le phénomène » du Tout-monde selon lui.

En tant qu’écrivain, Michaël Ferrier a la chance de ne rentrer aisément dans aucun moule académique. Il n’est pas vraiment un auteur francophone, encore moins un auteur français.

L’on pourrait lui coller un peu des deux étiquettes pour éviter la controverse, mais une évaluation plus radicale et peut-être plus bénéfique soutiendrait, qu’en vertu de son œuvre, il met en relief le caractère superficiel des deux catégories. L’étude de son travail demande qu’on réexamine réellement la nature et les classifications des lettres contemporaines en Frances. Il est l’auteur de romans qui ont une large portée historique (Mémoires d’outre-mer, 2015), et, tout à la fois, il s’aventure volontiers dans le domaine plus intime de l’auto-fiction (François, portrait d’un absent, 2018). Après son succès en tant que romancier, il continue à polir sa réputation de chercheur éclairé (Japon: Barrières des rencontres, 2015). Artiste travaillant à la croisée d’au moins trois genres et dont l’œuvre couvre au moins trois nations, Michaël Ferrier continue à poser des questions et à traiter des sujets de grande importance pour les Français, aussi bien en tant qu’individus qu’en tant que membres de la communauté mondiale.

Nous invitons des propositions de communication sur tous les aspects de l’œuvre de Ferrier, y compris par exemple :

Ferrier, le romancier

L’idée du « roman vrai »

Ferrier, l’essayiste

Ferrier et la tradition essayiste française

Ferrier, l’éditeur

Ferrier et la francité

Ferrier, l’écrivain « créole »

Ferrier, le cinéaste

Ferrier et le cinéma

Ferrier et la musique

Ferrier et les sens

Ferrier et le Tout-monde

La notion des « Écrivains du corail »

La biographie/ l’autobiographie

Les traversées

L’amitié

La famille

La mort

L’éducation

L’anti-colonialisme

Le Paris de Ferrier/ le Ferrier de Paris

Le désastre

Ferrier et le/au Japon

Le Tokyo de Ferrier/ le Ferrier de Tokyo

Tokyo Time Table

Ferrier et la/en traduction

Veuillez envoyer vos propositions de communication et de panels sur ces thèmes et sur d’autres thèmes pertinents avant le 30 septembre 2020 en cliquant sur le lien suivant : https://winthropking.fsu.edu/event/tokyo-stories-writing-world-michael-ferrier-0

Organisateurs: Martin Munro and William Cloonan.

1.10 Appel à contributions – RELIEF

RELIEF, Revue électronique de littérature française

Appel à contributions : « Sociologie de la médiation littéraire »

Éditeurs : Maaike Koffeman & Olivier Sécardin

L’équipe de rédaction de RELIEF vous invite à proposer des articles pour un numéro spécial sur la sociologie de la médiation littéraire, qui paraîtra en décembre 2020.

Du grenier des frères Goncourt aux manifestations virtuelles autour du livre, ce numéro de RELIEF sera consacré à la sociologie de la médiation littéraire. Nous vous invitons à proposer des contributions sur les divers acteurs, instances et institutions qui assument un rôle de médiation entre l’auteur et son public, que ce soit à travers des lieux de sociabilité et d’échange plus ou moins institutionnalisés (salons, festivals, foires littéraires, ateliers d’écriture) ou en ligne, en profitant des plateformes numériques (YouTube, réseaux sociaux, forums de critique littéraire, etc.) et des nouveaux médias tels que le podcast ou le livre numérique.

La réflexion sur les enjeux de la médiation permettra d’être attentif à la fois aux nouvelles formes de promotion développées par l’industrie du livre et aux politiques culturelles en faveur de la lecture et des auteurs, enfin aux nouveaux rôles des intermédiaires culturels dans la reconnaissance et la légitimation des œuvres et des auteurs. Les articles s’inscriront dans le champ de la sociologie de la littérature et pourront envisager spécifiquement des niveaux économiques, sociaux, politiques et culturels. Les articles pourront prendre comme point de départ un acteur spécifique dans le champ littéraire (auteur, critique, éditeur, agent littéraire, libraire, etc.) ou se pencher sur un sujet plus général tel que l’emploi d’un certain genre ou médium.

À travers une série d’études de cas, nous espérons voir ainsi émerger une réflexion à la fois historique et théorique sur les évolutions des médiations littéraires et sur les nouveaux rôles et postures de l’auteur dans un champ littéraire bouleversé par la révolution numérique.

Ce numéro de RELIEF accueillera des articles critiques en français ou en anglais dans une ou plusieurs des perspectives mentionnées. Les contributeurs ne sont pas obligés de se pencher uniquement sur des cas francophones ; les propositions basées sur une approche transnationale ou comparatiste seront particulièrement appréciés.

Date limite pour l’envoi des propositions : le 1^er juin 2020. Les auteurs des propositions retenues devront soumettre l’article complet (environ 6000 mots) avant le 1^er septembre 2020.

Merci d’envoyer une proposition d’environ 300 mots, accompagnée d’une brève notice biobibliographique, à revuerelief@gmail.com.

RELIEF est une revue scientifique internationale évaluée par les pairs dans le domaine des littératures de langue française. RELIEF paraît deux fois par an. Les numéros sont organisés par thème, mais chaque numéro réserve un espace aux contributions diverses ainsi qu’aux comptes rendus et notes de lecture. Pour plus d’infos : www.revue-relief.org.

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RELIEF, Revue électronique de littérature française

Call for papers : ‘The sociology of literary mediation’

Editors : Maaike Koffeman & Olivier Sécardin

The editorial team of RELIEF invites you to submit articles for a special issue on the sociology of literary mediation, which will appear in December 2020.

From the attic of the Goncourt brothers to online literary manifestations, this issue of RELIEF will be devoted to the sociology of literary mediation. We invite you to propose contributions on the various actors and institutions which function as intermediaries between the author and his readers, be it in the form of more of less institutionalized physical encounters (salons, festivals, book fairs, writing workshops) or online, thanks to the emergence of digital platforms (YouTube, social networks, literary critic forums, etc.) and new media such as podcasts or e-books.

Reflection on the sociology of literary mediation will allow us to study both new forms of promotion developed by the book industry and the evolution of cultural policies, and also the new roles cultural mediators play in the recognition and legitimization of works and authors.

The articles will need to take the sociology of literature as their theoretical starting point and may consider either the economic, social, political or cultural aspects of literary mediation. They can take as a starting point a specific actor in the literary field (an author, critic, editor, literary agent, bookseller, etc.) or consider a more general subject such as the use of a certain genre or medium.

Through a series of case studies, we hope to see emerge a both historical and theoretical reflection on the evolution of literary mediation and on the new roles and postures of the author in a literary field that is profoundly marked by the digital revolution.

This issue of RELIEF will contain scientific articles in French or English, which take into account one or more of the above-mentioned perspectives. Contributors need not limit their scope to the French speaking world; articles that take a transnational or comparative approach are particularly welcome.

Deadline for proposals: June 1, 2020. Authors of accepted proposals will need to submit the full article (approximately 6000 words) before September 1, 2020.

Please send a proposal of approximately 300 words, along with a short biography, to revuerelief@gmail.com.

RELIEF is an international peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of French-language literatures. RELIEF is published twice a year. The issues are organized thematically, but each issue has space for various contributions as well as book reviews. For more info, please go to www.revue-relief.org.

Quelques indications bibliographiques :

– Beau, Nathalie, et Aline Eisenegger. « La promotion du livre pour la jeunesse à travers les salons et les prix littéraires », Françoise Legendre éd., Bibliothèques, enfance et jeunesse. Éditions du Cercle de la Librairie, 2015, pp. 155-164.

– Bourlon, Véronique. « Organiser des manifestations et rencontres littéraires sur un festival : l’exemple du Festival du premier roman de Chambéry », Jérôme Bessière éd., Exposer la littérature. Éditions du Cercle de la Librairie, 2015, pp. 181-197.

– Chabault, Vincent. « Entre l’édition et la lecture, la médiation marchande du livre », Librairies en ligne. Sociologie d’une consommation culturelle, sous la direction de Chabault Vincent. Presses de Sciences Po, 2013, pp. 5-18.

– Chaudenson, Olivier. « Les nouvelles scènes littéraires », Jérôme Bessière éd., Exposer la littérature. Éditions du Cercle de la Librairie, 2015, pp. 103-119.

– Clerc, Adeline. « Le rôle des salons du livre dans la construction de la figure de l’écrivain. Primo-romanciers et auteurs peu reconnus », Communication & langages, vol. 174, no. 4, 2012, pp. 19-34 et « Entre artiste idéalisé et personne incarnée : les figures de l’écrivain nées des rencontres avec les lecteurs. Une étude dans un salon du livre », Terrains & travaux, vol. 17, no. 1, 2010, pp. 5-21.

– Collard, Fabienne, Christophe Goethals et Marcus Wunderle. « Les festivals et autres événements culturels », Dossiers du CRISP, vol. 83, no. 1, 2014, pp. 9-115.

– Cottenet, Cécile. Literary Agents in the Transatlantic Book Trade. American Fiction, French Rights, and the Hoffman Agency (1944-1955). Routledge, 2017, 204 p.

– Couleau, Christelle et Hellégouarc’h, Pascale éd., Les Blogs. Écriture d’un nouveau genre ? Itinéraires, n^°2, 2010, 200 p.

– Deseilligny, Oriane et Clément, Jean éd., L’Écriture au risque du réseau. Communication & langages, n^°155, 2008, 160 p.

– Donnat, Olivier et Lévy, Florence. « Approche générationnelle des pratiques culturelles et médiatiques ». Culture prospective, 3, 2007, pp. 1-31.

– Ducas, Sylvie. « Faire écouter la littérature avec les yeux ». Itinéraires, n^°3, 2015. Disponible à l’adresse suivante : https://journals.openedition.org/itineraires/3031

– Ducas, Sylvie et Deseilligny Oriane éd., L’Auteur en réseau, les réseaux de l’auteur : du livre à Internet. Presses universitaires de Paris-Ouest, 2013, pp. 49-72.

– Fabiani, Jean-Louis. « Les festivals dans la sphère culturelle en France », Philippe Poirrier éd., Festivals et sociétés en Europe, XIX^e-XXI^e siècles. Territoires contemporains, nouvelle série, 3, mis en ligne le 25 janvier 2012. Disponible à l’adresse suivante : http://tristan.u-bourgogne.fr/CGC/publications/Festivals_societes/JL_Fabiani.html

– Jeanneret, Yves. Critique de la trivialité. Les médiations de la communication, enjeu de pouvoir. Éditions Non Standard, 2014, p. 784.

– Noël, Sophie. « Les petits éditeurs « critiques » et la presse écrite : une relation ambiguë », Communication & langages, vol. 163, n°1, 2010, pp. 29-46.

– Ruiz, Ugo. « Blogs d’écrivain et écrivains-blogueurs : Internet et l’hybridation de la littérature », Communication & langages, vol. 198, n°4, 2018, pp. 101-118.

– Sapiro, Gisèle. « Mesure du littéraire. Approches sociologiques et historiques », Histoire & mesure, vol. vol. XXIII, n°2, 2008, pp. 35-68 et « L’amour de la littérature : le festival, nouvelle instance de production de la croyance. Le cas des Correspondances de Manosque », Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales, vol. 206-207, n°1, 2015, pp. 108-137.

– Soumagnac, Karel. « La construction de la médiation littéraire sur internet : vers un changement de paradigme des pratiques d’écriture », Études de communication, vol. 31, n°1, 2008, pp. 175-188.

1.11 Call for Papers from French Historical Studies: Music and French History/La musique et l’histoire française

The editors of French Historical Studies seek articles for a special issue on music in the Francophone world to appear in 2022.

The history of the music of France has traditionally been studied as a separate category without the same robust interest as other cultural artifacts such as film and literature. More recent scholarship illuminates the place of music in French society and suggests that more work should be done to sketch out the particular place of music in all its forms in French history.

This special issue of French Historical Studies proposes to take stock of and advance this historiographical renewal. What can the production and consumption of music tell us about the shifting nature of French identity and the relationships among various constituencies in French history?

We seek a wide range of approaches to reflect the variety of recent scholarship, which includes music from outside the Hexagon. We define music in the most inclusive way to cover art music, religious music, and popular music, as well as its producers, interlocutors, and audiences.

We encourage submissions that assess the changing spaces of musical production, development of music industries, variations in media (sound recording, video, and file sharing as examples), the conditions of circulation. Music remains ubiquitous today in France, but we should look beyond the notion of sonic wallpaper and understand the particular meanings ascribed to music throughout French history. What did music mean to medieval and prerevolutionary listeners, and whom was it for? How did technological changes transform the meaning of music? Does music serve as a form of citizenship for the French?

Submissions on all periods, from medieval to contemporary, are welcome. Transnational perspectives that look at music within global and connected histories are particularly encouraged, but there should be a Francophone aspect to that history to connect it with the journal’s scholarly interests. The journal is also interested in multimedia and digital opportunities for journal articles.

Queries about submission and other matters should be addressed to the guest editors: William Weber (william.weber@csulb.edu) and Jonathyne Briggs (jwbriggs@iun.edu).

To submit an article, visit www.editorialmanager.com/fhs/default.aspx. After registering, follow the submission instructions under “Instructions for Authors” on the website. Articles may be either in English or in French but must in either case conform to French Historical Studies style and must be accompanied by 150-word abstracts in both French and English. Manuscripts should be between 6,000 and 8,000 words. For any illustrations, musical scores, and audio clips, authors must obtain written permission for both print and online publication from the relevant persons or institutions.

The deadline for submissions is September 1, 2020.

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Les éditrices de French Historical Studies lancent un appel à articles pour un numéro spécial sur la musique, à paraître en 2022.

L’histoire de la musique a généralement été étudiée comme une catégorie à part. Elle n’a pas suscité le même intérêt parmi les historien(ne)s que d’autres objets culturels tels que les films ou la littérature. L’historiographie la plus récente éclaire la place de la musique dans la société française et suggère qu’il reste encore beaucoup à faire pour constituer un ensemble de connaissances historiques sur son rôle dans l’histoire.

Ce numéro spécial de FHS voudrait faire le bilan de nos savoirs et les orienter vers des pistes de recherche nouvelles. Qu’est-ce que la production et la consommation de la musique nous disent de la nature évolutive de l’identité française et des relations entre ses divers constituants ?

Nous souhaitons que ce numéro de FHS reflète la grande variété des usages historiographiques de la musique, en France mais aussi dans le monde francophone. Notre conception de la musique embrasse une diversité de genres pour couvrir la musique populaire, classique ou religieuse, mais aussi ses producteurs et productrices, ses praticien(ne)s et ses différents publics.

Les propositions devront prêter attention aux différents espaces de la production musicale, au développement des industries de la musique, aux divers médias (enregistrement sonore ou vidéo, partage de fichiers, etc.) et aux conditions de leur circulation. La musique reste omniprésente dans la France d’aujourd’hui, mais il nous faut regarder au-delà de la musique d’ambiance et comprendre la signification particulière attribuée à la musique tout au long de l’histoire française. Que signifiait la musique pour les personnes au Moyen Age ou dans la France pré-révolutionnaire, et à qui était-elle destinée ? Comment les changements technologiques ont-ils transformé le sens de la musique ? La musique renvoie-t-elle à une forme de citoyenneté pour les Français(es) ?

Toutes les périodes de l’histoire entrent dans notre champ d’investigation, de l’époque médiévale à nos jours. Les perspectives transnationales, qui s’intéressent à la place de la musique au sein d’une histoire globale et connectée, sont particulièrement encouragées, à condition qu’elles intègrent une dimension francophone. FHS est également attentif aux possibilités d’intégrer des dimensions multimédia ou numériques aux articles.

Les propositions d’articles, ainsi que toutes vos questions, sont à adresser à nos éditeurs invités : William Weber (william.weber@csulb.edu) et Jonathyne Briggs (jwbriggs@iun.edu).

Pour soumettre un article, veuillez consulter www.editorialmanager.com/fhs/default.aspx. Après vous être enregistré(e), suivez les instructions de la section « Instructions for Authors ». Les articles peuvent être soumis en anglais ou en français, mais, dans les deux cas, ils doivent être conformes au style de FHS, et doivent être accompagnés d’un résumé de 150 mots rédigé à la fois en français et en anglais. Les manuscrits doivent comporter entre 6 000 et 8 000 mots. Concernant les illustrations, les autrices et les auteurs doivent obtenir la permission écrite de les publier sous forme papier et digitale de la part des personnes dépositaires des droits sur ces images ou extraits sonores, ou de la part des responsables des institutions d’où les images et la musique sont originaires.

La date limite pour soumettre les articles est fixée au 1 septembre 2020.

1.12 Call for papers: ageing-migration nexus in the ‘global south’

Call for papers: Special Issue project

Re-configuring the ageing-migration nexus: towards a critical understanding of ageing and migration in the ‘global south’

Editors: Dora Sampaio and Megha Amrith

Today, two thirds of the world’s older adults live in developing regions, where their numbers are growing faster than in the developed regions. In 2050, it is estimated that nearly 8 in 10 of the world’s older persons (aged 60 years old and more) will be living in developing parts of the world (UN, 2017; 2019). While existing data clearly demonstrate that the numbers of ageing individuals are expected to increase more sharply in Latin America, Caribbean, Asia, and Africa in the forthcoming decades, research agendas have remained primarily focused on ageing populations in the ‘global north’ and the socio-spatial ramifications that these demographic processes have on the ‘global south’. What is overlooked is a recognition of experiences in regions of the south that are themselves ageing and the social transformations and forms of translocal mobility that occur in conjunction.

This special issue proposes a shift in the analytical lens researchers have thus far used for understanding the intersections of ageing and migration. While recognising that ageing is a universal biological process, our primary line of inquiry is to interrogate whether such a global experience can be grasped by social theories that are based on ageing experiences in the global north. With this special issue from the specific vantage point of the south, we seek to unsettle long-established certainties about the social experience of ageing and its interconnections with mobility and come up with novel conceptual tools that better reflect the global diversity of the ageing-migration nexus. In so doing, we critically examine global permutations of this nexus, discussing concepts, relations, and trajectories that are emplaced and embodied in nuanced ways across the geographical spectrum. In particular, we consider the explanatory power of dominant ideas about retirement, activity, welfare, care, and the ageing body, and seek to advance a broader understanding of specific cultures of ageing and migration in contexts beyond the north. We especially encourage critical reflections of the ageing-migration nexus and its articulations in the global south that challenge or refine conventional categories (including of the very categories ‘north/south’) while extending knowledge on diverse constellations of mobility and spatial connectivity.

We invite interdisciplinary contributions, based on qualitative field research, that engage with the ageing-migration nexus in the global south through a variety of thematic focus:

– Ageing in relation to local, regional and transnational mobilities across the global south – including internal or cross-border migration and displacement;
– Ageing experiences in relation to family, care, and intergenerational relationships across distances;
– Intersectional belonging and exclusion in the experiences of older migrants and diasporas;
– Ageing and mobilities in relation to activity, work, and livelihoods;
– Meanings of (age)ing and the ageing body;
– Formal and informal institutions, networks and communities of ‘social protection’.

Please submit abstracts of 400 words, and a short bio by April 30, 2020 to atm@mmg.mpg.de . The selected abstracts will be included in a Special Issue proposal to a migration studies journal.

1.13 Modern Languages Teaching Forum @ University of Kent

The Modern Languages department of the University of Kent is happy to present the third edition of Modern Languages Teaching Forum, a biannual event aimed at bringing together teachers of modern foreign languages at all levels, to share good practice, exchange ideas, face challenges together and foster continuity and collaboration between education stages.

The next Modern Languages Teaching Forum @ the University of Kent will be dedicated to “Distance Learning in Modern Languages”. The forum will take place via a Zoom meeting (or other videoconferencing software TBA – link will be circulated to participants in due course) on Wednesday 27 May 2020 from 5 to 7 pm.

Over the past month or so, our classrooms have become virtual, our homes have become our offices and assessment has been delivered online. Socialising and meeting have taken on a completely different dimension. In these times it is all the more important that we continue to foster our bond and exchange through the Modern Languages Teaching Forum. The forum will thus be an opportunity to “meet” and discuss the new and unprecedented challenges that we are facing, to understand what we can learn from them, what of these new practices we will be able to port into our normal activities once they resume, and how we could move from emergency measures to an organised delivery of teaching should the current situation persist in the Autumn.

The format will be similar to that of previous editions: we invite short (10 minutes) contributions on the topic, followed by discussion. We particularly welcome short practical presentations or workshops on tools and solutions to the new challenges we are facing due to the COVID-19 situation.

Should social distancing measures be lifted by then, we will switch to a blended delivery: participants will be welcome to attend in person at the University of Kent but a Zoom link will also be generated so that people can participate remotely.

If you wish to deliver a paper, please send Alvise Sforza Tarabochia (a.sforza-tarabochia@kent.ac.uk) a short abstract (100-150 words) and a title by Friday 8 May at 5pm. If you wish to attend as part of the audience, please also send an email to the above email address so the link can be circulated to participants.

Further information on the forum, with materials from previous events, can be found at this website: https://research.kent.ac.uk/languages-teaching-forum/

You can also subscribe to the Forum mailing list at https://lists.kent.ac.uk/sympa/subscribe/ml-forum.

1.14 CFP – WIF at the MMLA November 5-8, 2020, Deadline Extended

Call for Papers for Women in French

2020 Midwest Modern Language Association Convention

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

November 5-8, 2020

This year’s theme is “Cultures of Collectivity.” Please send a 250-word abstract in French or English along with your academic affiliation, brief bio, and A/V requirements to Jennifer Howell, Illinois State University, jthowel@ilstu.edu by May 31, 2020. Proposals for complete panels are also welcome.

Notifications will be sent by June 10, 2020. All presenters must be current members of both the Midwest Modern Language Association and Women in French in order to participate. Additional information can be found on the conference website:

https://www.luc.edu/mmla/convention/

All those interested in Women in French are encouraged to attend. A dinner out will also be organised for all WIF panelists and WIF members who would like to join us. Please contact Jennifer Howell (details above) if you have any questions).

2. Job and Scholarship Opportunities

2.1 Job Vacancy: Professor in Rural Development with a focus on the Global South at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, in Uppsala is looking to recruit a Professor in Rural Development with a focus on the Global South (deadline August 2020). Details here: https://www.slu.se/en/about-slu/jobs-vacancies/?rmpage=job&rmjob=3557&rmlang=UK

2.2 Postdoc position in Remembering Activism: The Cultural Memory of Protest in Europe (ReAct) (0.9 FTE)

The project Remembering Activism: The Cultural Memory of Protest in Europe funded by the European Research Council 2019-2024 is located at the Institute for Cultural Inquiry (ICON), Faculty of Humanities, Utrecht University, the Netherlands. Principal Investigator (PI) is Prof Ann Rigney.

Mass demonstrations are newsworthy. But how are they remembered when they are no longer news? Social movements are usually studied in terms of their emergence and subsidence. Despite recognition that activists are ‘inspired’ by precedents, the afterlife of activism in story and image has never been systematically explored. ReAct contends that knowledge of this cultural memory is needed for a full understanding of civil resistance and aims to provide the first in-depth account of the remembering and forgetting of activism in Europe since the late 19th century. It aims to reveal continuities and changes in how protest has been depicted in different media regimes; demonstrate the role of texts, images, and commemorative practices in conveying the memory of protest to later generations; and show how this memory feeds back into later movements at home and abroad. Details on the project can be found here.

ReAct is now recruiting a post-doc for the subproject on “The Language of Protest.” This 0.9 FTE position is for 24 months beginning 1 September 2020.

The Languages of Protest

How has the verbal and discursive framing of activism developed since the late nineteenth century? And how has this affected the retrospective alignment of different movements? Advancing on Tarrow (2014) and Steinberg (1999), this project will establish how language has shaped the narrative understanding of protest on the part of participants and observers, and show how this lexicon of protest has changed over time. In addition it will identify how lexical changes and the narrative schemata they entail affect the retrospective alignment of different movements. Labelling events already places them within a tradition: the name ‘Arab Spring,’ recalled the Prague Spring of 1968 and the Spring of Nations of 1848; while the use of variations of the name ‘Indignants’ across Europe in 2011-2012 indicated cross-movement affiliation. Movements may also be re-labelled: the victims of the Peterloo massacre (1819) were recently re-described as “peaceful protesters” and their protest compared to the 1989 events in Tiananmen square; Occupy Wall Street activists called the Paris Commune of 1871 the “first great modern occupation.” The terms ‘protesters’ and ‘occupation’ are anachronistic; by the same token, they help retrospectively to turn earlier events into precursors of later ones.

This post-doc project will show how language carries and re-creates memory, examining how the protest lexicon has evolved and explain the impact of these changes on the interpretation and retrospective alignment of different protest movements. The research will involve examining contemporary and retrospective accounts of selected protest events as seen from different political perspectives. English will be the baseline language with samples from at least one other European language used to provide a comparative perspective. Digitized historical newspapers as well as online resources and published memoirs will be the principal sources. The research should ideally combine historical semantics with critical discourse analysis, and use techniques of close reading as well as computer assisted textual analysis to identify word frequencies and word clusters. The study of newspapers will be supplemented, in collaboration with other members of the ReAct team, by the close reading of sample memoirs written by activists themselves so as to identify the discursive terms of their self-representation and how this has changed (or not) over time.

Your tasks as a Postdoc will include:

completion of the assigned research tasks;
regular presentation of intermediate research results at workshops and conferences;
publication of at least 4 substantial articles in journals or edited volumes;
co-editing of a collective work;
coaching of PhDs;
co-organisation of project workshops and conferences;
participation in all project-related activities, including outreach activities.

For more details and how to apply, please visit https://www.uu.nl/organisatie/werken-bij-de-universiteit-utrecht/vacatures/postdoc-position-in-remembering-activism-the-cultural-memory-of-protest-in-europe-react-09-fte

2.3 Collaborative Doctoral Awards with the Imperial War Museum

IWM is pleased to invite applications from candidates for the next round of AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership PhD studentships, to begin in October 2020. This year we have the following studentships:

‘The Body as a Battlefield’: an exploration of available material culture that highlights narratives of sexual violence in conflict
Diversifying and decolonising conflict photography: an exploration of how accompanying textual information can influence the reading and understanding of photographs
Legacies of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency: Activism and Politics in Central Kenya, 1956-75

Please see the below link for further information:

https://www.iwm.org.uk/research/doctoral-awards

2.4 Visiting Assistant Professor (early modern) University at Buffalo SUNY

The Department of Romance Languages and Literatures at the University at Buffalo invites applications for a three-year position at the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor in French Literature, beginning August 2020. The field of specialization is early modern French and Francophone. Preferred fields include the French long 18th century or 17th century. We seek a colleague whose research and teaching play to the existing strengths in RLL and its closely affiliated departments, so comparatist approaches are welcome. Candidates should demonstrate a strong background in literature, culture, and philosophy. Possible research areas of interest include: theater and the arts, material culture, print culture, history of science, race, colonialism, disability studies or gender. Innovative or creative teaching, an interest in experiential learning, and knowledge of online pedagogies are all highly desirable. Teaching of courses in the UB Curriculum, advanced language and culture sequence, upper-division undergraduate electives and graduate courses will be expected. In the cover letter, candidates should highlight any work in diversity and inclusion. The course load will be 2-2 and the salary commensurate with experience.

For further details and how to apply, please see below:

https://www.ubjobs.buffalo.edu/postings/24335

2.5 Assistant Professor / Lecturer in French Applied Linguistics (Permanent), Maynooth University (Ireland)

We are seeking an academic with an outstanding record to join our staff as Assistant Professor / Lecturer in French Studies with a specialism in Applied Linguistics, Second Language Acquisition, and/or Foreign / Second Language Pedagogy, all with an emphasis on French. The person appointed will have a proven record of teaching, research and publication, appropriate to the career stage. He/she will be expected to make a strong contribution to the teaching programme of the SMLLC / French Studies section and undertake teaching duties to on the School’s undergraduate and postgraduate programmes as well as the supervision of Masters and PhD students.

For further details and how to apply, please click here.

2.6 Assistant Professor / Lecturer in French (1 Year Contract), Maynooth University, Ireland

We are seeking an excellent academic to join our staff as a Lecturer in French Studies (one-year contract post). The person appointed will have a proven record of teaching, research and publication in any aspect of French or Francophone literature, film, society or culture. He / she will be expected to make a strong contribution to the teaching programme of the School / French Studies and undertake teaching duties on the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes as well as the supervision of MA students.

For further details and how to apply, please click here.

2.7 Call for applications: VAP of French, Texas Tech University

The Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures at Texas Tech University invites applications for a one-year appointment at the rank of Visiting Assistant Professor of French (Fall 2020-Spring 2021). We are seeking a dynamic teacher-scholar who can teach a variety of courses in French and Francophone language, literature and culture, engaging with a range of time periods and subject matter. The successful candidate will demonstrate a capacity for high-quality teaching at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as a demonstrated and ongoing commitment to serving diverse student populations. Expected service duties to the department, college, and university will include program-building and active commitment to extra-curricular activities. The candidate must have the Ph.D. in hand by the time of appointment. Native or near-native fluency in French is required. Teaching load will be 3-3.

Apply online at https://bit.ly/2WTB42v, job ID 20732BR. Submit online a letter of application, a CV, and two (2) sample syllabi. Send three (3) confidential letters of recommendation either by email to lloyd.allred@ttu.edu or by post to Lloyd Allred, Attn: French Search Committee, Department of Classical and Modern Languages and Literatures, Texas Tech University, P.O. Box 42071, 2906 18th St, CMLL Bldg, Room 207, Lubbock, TX 79409-2071. Review of applications will begin on April 30, 2020 and screening will continue until the position is filled. Interviews with selected candidates will be conducted by video conference.

As an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer, Texas Tech University is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally diverse faculty committed to teaching and working in a multicultural environment. We actively encourage applications from all those who can contribute, through their research, teaching and/or service, to the diversity and excellence of the university’s academic community. TTU does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, national origin, sex, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, religion, disability, or military veteran status. Texas Tech University is a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI).

2.8 Call for Applications -GPN Phd Scholarships

PhD Scholarships at the Global Partnership Network (GPN)

Application Deadline: 7 May 2020 (12:00 pm, GMT+1)

Scholarship Start: 1 July 2020

The GPN is an interdisciplinary and international network of excellence with the head office located at the University of Kassel (Germany) and partner universities in Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean. It co-operates closely with various partner NGOs in the respective countries. The GPN is funded by the programme “Exceed – Higher Education Excellence in Development Cooperation” launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

In the framework of its Graduate School of Research for Global Partnership, the GPN invites students from ODA recipient countries[1] to apply for a PhD scholarship at a GPN partner university. Further, it will enable and fund research co-operations between partner universities working on Global Partnership in the global economy (in the fields of agriculture, finance, and energy), in development cooperation (access, accountability, deep participation) and/or in knowledge production (Eurocentrism and alternative knowledge).

The universities contributing to the GPN are the following:

Haramaya University (Ethiopia)
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU, India)
Makerere University (Uganda)
Rhodes University (South Africa)
Université des Sciences Appliquées du Développement (USAD, Burkina Faso)
Université d’Etat Haiti (UEH, Haiti)
Université Virtuelle Senegal (UVS, Senegal)
University of Cape Coast (UCC, Ghana)
University of Ghana (UG, Ghana)
University of the West Indies (UWI, Jamaica)
University of the Witwatersrand (Wits, South Africa)
University of Kassel (UKS, Germany)

The GPN is committed to creating equal opportunities for doctoral candidates. We particularly encourage women and people from other marginalized groups to apply.
Background

The Global Partnership Network (GPN) is an ambitious and promising assemblage of higher
education institutions and civil society groups for research, teaching and training around SDG 17: “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.” It targets research, teaching and training that investigates the global partnership for sustainable development in three specific areas, challenges its shortcomings and contributes to possible solutions to the concerns posed providing policy relevant research informed by a historical sensibility. These areas are: 1) partnerships in development cooperation, 2) partnerships in the global economy, 3) partnership in knowledge production. In the network, we call attention to the shortcomings, limitations, and problematic aspects of international partnerships that have historically been shaped by colonial relations between North and South and sometimes continue to reflect them. Redressing this historical dynamic requires reconstructing the concept towards a partnership based on mutual recognition and solidarity, adequate to the multi-polar and postcolonial 21st century.

PhD research proposals are required to address one of the following research clusters:

Cluster 1: Partnership in development cooperation: access, accountability, and deep participation
Critical research on development cooperation has concluded that despite its commitment to partnership (manifest already before SDG 17 in the principles of the Paris Declaration of 2005 and in earlier concepts) it suffers from at least three problems: 1) Its benefits are distributed unevenly and seldom reach marginalised groups (in particular women and indigenous people). 2) It sometimes has problematic or even catastrophic side-effects (e.g. development-induced displacement) on its supposed beneficiaries or other project-affected people who can do little about it because of asymmetrical relations of power. 3) Its mechanisms of participation are confined by the structures of the development apparatus. Therefore, the GPN will focus on 1) access to development cooperation for marginalised groups (women, indigenous people, ethnic minorities, LGBTIQ persons, people with disabilities), and on 2) accountability of development organisations towards beneficiaries or project affected persons. Out of a concern for equal partnerships and a high level of ownership, our research also focuses on transdisciplinary outreach and on a transfer of research results. We therefore refer to debates on co-creation and co-production of knowledge for instance with regard to creating partnerships, project design, and implementation, and transformation knowledge. Correspondingly, 3) together with civil society development organisations we will explore possibilities for and restrictions of “deep” participation, which does not only include project implementation but also project design and even the definition of the problem to be solved by the project. This multi-level form of participation will increase the experience of ownership and therefore contribute to the durability and sustainability of projects. Focusing on these three fields will significantly increase the level of partnership in development cooperation.

Cluster 2: Partnership in the global economy: agriculture, finance, and energy
A serious pursuit of the SDGs requires partnerships in the global economy: The principle of policy coherence (also officially endorsed since the Paris Declaration and central to SDG 17 target 13 and 14) maintains that successful poverty reduction must not be confined to development cooperation, but has to go ‘beyond aid’ and include a coherent global governance in the different fields of the global economy, preventing a situation where measures of development policy are thwarted by foreign economic policies of donor states . Therefore, global economic structures need to be taken into account when talking about global partnership for sustainable development. The GPN will concentrate on three policy fields with particular significance for the SDGs, whose problem constellations and challenges highlight the importance of strong partnerships: agriculture, finance, and energy. For these fields it will provide policy recommendations for policy coherence and successful partnerships in the global economy, in particular regarding the following aspects:

Agriculture: Partnerships for transformation towards fair trade and organic agriculture and the abolition of forced labour. This field is particularly relevant for SDG 2 (“End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture”), 15 (“Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems”) and 8 (“Decent work for all”).

Finance: debt relief initiatives and stakeholder networks, blended finance networks and investment partnerships and microfinance initiatives. This field is particularly relevant for SDG 8 (“Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth”) and 10 (“Reduce inequality within and among countries”).

Renewable energy: energy transition processes and local adaption of energy technologies in postcolonial contexts. This field is particularly relevant for SDG 7 (“Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all”) and 13 (“Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts”).

In all three areas, the GPN will investigate practical examples of partnerships and explore the reasons for success and failure, providing analysis and policy recommendations for policy coherence and partnerships in the global economy. This complements cluster 1 by including policy fields beyond development cooperation crucial to realizing the Sustainable Development Goals.

Cluster 3: Partnership in knowledge production: Eurocentrism and alternative knowledge
Knowledge sharing between partners is also a part of SDG 17 (targets 6 and 16), but whose knowledge is envisioned to be shared? The Post-Development critique has pointed out the Eurocentrism prevalent in development knowledge: Eurocentric ontologies assume a linear scale of social evolution, at the top of which we find the ‘developed’ (i.e. industrialised, secular, capitalist, democratic) European societies (including the European settler colonies in North America, Africa and Australia). This assumption, implying e.g. that knowledge about progressive social change which helps the global South to advance along this universal scale can be found in the North and that development experts possess this knowledge, has been challenged by postcolonial theorists stressing mutual learning; alternative, local, non-Western (to be precise: non-hegemonic, because they can also be found in the West) knowledges; and pluriversal epistemologies and alternative, participatory and decolonised pathways to knowledge production and co-construction. The GPN will investigate these alternative knowledges, their generation, diffusion and translation, and the possibilities they provide for progressive social change from the bottom up. Through providing fora and encouraging inter-cultural dialogue including marginalised peoples, it will contribute to mutual learning and foster partnerships in knowledge production. In this regard, cluster 3 can also cross-fertilise and enhance the partnerships in development cooperation and global economic structures.

GPN Scholarships – What We Offer

Building on successful earlier initiatives, the network will include a graduate programme in which PhD students are co-supervised by professors from two partner universities. The supervisors are chosen by the PhD student based on thematic preferences and if they agree to the supervision, they will monitor the thesis progress at least once every three months in a one-hour online session. The PhD student will spend at least six months at the partner university of the second supervisor.

PhD students of the GPN Graduate School will be based at the respective partner universities (see above) and enrolled in the virtual PhD training programme. Moreover, successful candidates participate in the annual PhD virtual conferences of the GPN Graduate School and get involved in the lively academic exchange and activities within the GPN network.

The PhD scholarship will be awarded for three years. An extension for a fourth year is possible under certain conditions. In exceptional cases, preparatory PhD grants are given for up to one year for students (especially from countries with weaker higher education systems) who exhibit potential for interesting research but need more academic training. This grant will enable them to attend courses in one of the partner universities and improve their proposal. The scholarships will cover a country-specific monthly living allowance (including a family allowance if applicable), the participation in virtual GPN Graduate School activities as well as the opportunity to apply for funding towards completing empirical research. Final admission to the GPN Graduate School is conditioned on the admittance to the PhD programme of the chosen GPN partner university and a positive progress evaluation by the GPN in the first scholarship year.

Application Requirements

a completed or almost completed MA/MSc degree (in the final phase of submitting the thesis/dissertation), with very good results, in a discipline related to the above topics; the applicant’s last academic degree should not be more than six years ago; if an applicant already started with his/her PhD project, it should have started not more than three years ago;
a very high proficiency in English (CEFR level: C1 or above) demonstrated by one of the following language certificates: TOEFL, with a minimum score of 95 IBT (Internet-based test); IELTS 7.0 or above; the Cambridge Certificate in Advanced English or an equivalent; native speakers and applicants who have completed [one of] their first degree[s] fully in English do not have to provide an English proficiency certificate; if the PhD dissertation will be written in another language than English: a high proficiency of English (CEFR level: B2 or above) for the participation in the Graduate School demonstrated by one of the just mentioned language certificates.
academic or vocational experience in one of the disciplines related to the thematic field of global partnership;
citizenship of an ODA recipient country (cf. list attached).

Application Procedure

The application process involves three elements. Your application is only complete if all three are submitted:

1.) Application package

Please provide the following documents in a single PDF file. Only complete applications, in the order listed below, will be accepted:

a detailed curriculum vitae (including the academic background, the list of publications [if applicable], professional experience, language skills, voluntary work);
a preliminary PhD project proposal (about 2000 words, including topic, research question, short overview of the relevant literature, theoretical approach, research design and methodology, justified assignment to one of the three research clusters and possible supervisors from the GPN network. We kindly request you to refrain from contacting supervisors at this stage);
a summary of the Master thesis (about 1500 words);
scanned copy of an English proficiency certificate, if required;
scanned copies of the following documents in the original language with translations attached, if the language of these documents is not German, English or French:
the certificate and transcript of records of your recognised Master degree, listing all subjects and grades (if you have not yet completed your Master degree, please provide only the transcript and substitute the certificate with a
letter from the programme coordinator testifying the date and likelihood of the successful completion of the course);
the certificate and transcript of records of your recognised Bachelor degree, listing all subjects and grades;
certificates for the completion of additional studies, listing all subjects and grades, if applicable;
scanned copies of certificates of previous professional/vocational experience, if applicable.

These items of your application package must be submitted in the order listed above, with your CV as the first item, followed by your project proposal etc. All items of the application must be assembled in one pdf document (use e.g. a pdf creator or your word processing programme) of max. 50 MB. Incomplete applications and submissions consisting of multiple files cannot be accepted!

2.) Completion of the online application form and upload of your application package

To complete the online application form and upload your application package (single pdf file), you need to first register with your name and email address on the following website (online survey tool of the University of Kassel, Germany):
https://www.uni-kassel.de/go/gpn-phd-application

Once you have registered, a personalized link will be sent to you by email, with which you can then access the online application form. Completing the online application and uploading your application package is possible until the application deadline: 7 May 2020 (12:00 pm, GMT+1).

3.) Two letters of recommendation

In addition to your application, two recent letters of recommendation from professors, course instructors or other persons qualified to assess your academic achievements must be provided. Referees must sign the letter and send it as a scanned copy from the referee’s email account to: graduateschool.gpn@uni-kassel.de

As in the letters themselves, the email reference line should mention your full name and “letter of recommendation”. The letters of recommendation must also arrive at the GPN by no later than 7 May 2020.

Successful applications will need to provide officially authenticated photocopies of all the submitted documents and translations.
For further information or questions, please contact the GPN Graduate School staff:

Email: graduateschool.gpn@uni-kassel.de

The GPN homepage: https://www.uni-kassel.de/forschung/global-partnership-network/home/

________________________________________
[1] Countries eligible for Official Development Assistance (ODA) of the OECD as approved by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) according to the DAC List of ODA Recipients, effective for reporting on 2020 flows
(https://www.oecd.org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/development-finance-standards/D...)

2.9 Career Development Fellow in French

The Queen’s College proposes to elect a fixed-term (non-renewable) Career Development Fellowship (CDF) in French for five years. The College intends the start date of the appointment to be no later than 31 July 2020.

The Queen’s College, founded in 1341, is one of the oldest Colleges in the University of Oxford and represents most aspects of the University community and its scientific and scholarly work. There are approximately 45 fellows, about 160 graduate students and about 330 undergraduates.

The CDF will be required (i) to pursue a programme of advanced research; (ii) to teach six hours per week for the College or other colleges, either under an exchange arrangement or in return for tuition fees to be remitted to the College; and (iii) to examine, to play a full part in the admissions process, and to undertake such other duties as the Governing Body may direct. The successful candidate will have a broad competence in two centuries of literature written in French during the modern period: from the nineteenth century to the present.

The Fellowship is open to graduates of any University of postdoctoral or equivalent standing, who are engaged in research. Eligible candidates should normally have submitted their doctoral thesis and have no more than three years of post-doctoral research experience by the closing date.

The basic stipend will be on a scale starting at £32,817 per annum. A personal research allowance of £1,565 per annum is provided by the College for research activities such as conference attendance, research assistance, and the purchase of books and software. The College will provide a non-residential study room on the main site in central Oxford.

Closing Date: midday, Wednesday 13th May 2020

Interviews will be held via video conferencing in the week beginning Monday 8th June 2020.

Further particulars and the application form are available at https://www.queens.ox.ac.uk/career-development-fellowship-french

2.10 Associate Professor in Comparative Literature, NTNU

The Department of Language and Literature has a vacancy for an Associate Professor in Comparative Literature.

At NTNU, creating knowledge for a better world is the vision that unites our 7 400 employees and 42 000 students. We are looking for dedicated employees to join us.

As Associate Professor in Comparative Literature at ISL, you will

teach within all areas in comparative literature, also outside your field of expertise
participate in assessment activities and administrative tasks according to current regulations
be expected to take part of student recruitment efforts to the different programmes, and also in the further quality development of the programmes
be expected to lead and initiate research efforts and secure funding of research projects within your field, in addition to further development your personal research activites

Qualification requirements

PhD in comparative literature
Research work the comparative aspect of literature including work on more than one national literary tradition (one of which should be non-Scandinavian)
Relevant teaching and supervision experience

In evaluation of the applications the following elements will receive particular attention

quality and relevance of publications, in particular in publications from the last five years
ability and commitment to research and development work#
experience from research administration
experience from research dissemination
varied teaching experience and commitment to development of teaching methods
experience and commitment to leadership and administrative work
personal suitability, good collaborative skills and motivation

Salary and conditions

The gross salary for the position of Associate Professor code 1011 is normally from NOK 563 700- 667 200,- before tax per year, depending on qualifications and seniority. From the salary, 2 % is deducted as a contribution to the Norwegian Public Service Pension Fund.

Full call: https://www.jobbnorge.no/en/available-jobs/job/185399/associate-professor-in-comparative-literature

3. Announcements

3.1 ASMCF statement: ASMCF activities during the Covid-19 pandemic

We are conscious that many of our members will have been experiencing very difficult and trying conditions over the past few days, and that the current situation is likely to continue for some time. The ASMCF remains committed to supporting our members in these unusual times, while acknowledging that many of our traditional activities may be disrupted.

At present, we have no plans to cancel our annual conference, at the University of Leeds, scheduled for 10-12 September 2020. We are in continual communication with colleagues at Leeds and we will review the advisability of running our annual conference as events unfold. In terms of our funding initiatives, we understand that colleagues who have been awarded funding in support of events, and those who are the recipients of our annual Prizes, may need to postpone or reschedule their plans and would like to assure them that we will work with them to support any changes required.

In common with fellow learned societies in the broad field of French Studies, we will shortly be signposting members and colleagues to some online resources to support students of French at university and indeed secondary education levels. We are particularly keen to support the transition of students of French from A-Level (or Highers) to university level and will be signposting members to suitable online resources in the next few weeks.

We wish all of our members well in efforts to develop online teaching and learning and indeed online examinations and assessment in their home institutions and remain on hand to promote the activities of our members and the wider field of French Studies at this very difficult time.

Prof Chris Tinker (Hon. President) and Dr Fiona Barclay (Hon. Secretary), ASMCF

3.2 Nouvelle date clôture : Prix jeune chercheur.se de l’AHCESR 2020

Après délibération, et au vu des grandes difficultés actuelles auxquelles nous sommes toutes et tous confrontés, la date butoire est déplacée au 1er mai 2020.

Ce mail annule et remplace tous les précédents – en vous priant de nous excuser pour l’éventuelle gêne occasionnée.

L’AHCESR a créé en 2016 le Prix jeune chercheur.se de l’AHCESR, couronnant un article d’histoire contemporaine écrit par la/le titulaire d’un doctorat obtenu au cours des trois dernières années. Ce prix entend faire connaître et encourager les recherches en histoire contemporaine les plus novatrices, par leur objet ou leur méthode, sans autre restriction que les limites de la chronologie.
Le prochain prix, pour l’année 2020, doté d’un montant de 500 euros, sera remis lors de la prochaine assemblée générale de l’AHCESR, fin 2020.

L’article doit avoir été publié :
– en français ;
– dans une revue scientifique (avec ou sans comité de lecture, en ligne et/ou en version papier, en France ou à l’étranger). Les chapitres de livres collectifs ne seront pas évalués ;
– par la/le titulaire d’un doctorat soutenu entre le 1er septembre 2017 et le 1er avril 2020 ;
– il ne doit pas avoir déjà été soumis dans les années précédentes pour le prix de l’AHCESR.

Modalités de candidature :
Envoi d’un unique fichier pdf comprenant:
– un bref CV
– le diplôme de doctorat
– l’article.
A l’adresse, prixdelahcesr@gmail.com
Le jury est composé des membres du conseil d’administration de l’AHCESR.

3.3 New Books in French Studies: Interview with Arthur Asseraf

The latest New Books in French Studies interview with Arthur Asseraf, the author of Electric News in Colonial Algeria (Oxford University Press, 2019), is available here.

New Books in French Studies features discussions with scholars of France and the Francophone world about their latest books. It is a part of the New Books Network, a consortium of podcasts featuring publications across a wide range of fields. The podcast can also be accessed via iTunes where a free subscription option is available.

3.4 COVID-19 and SFS activities

Due to the ongoing crisis relating to COVID-19, the Society for French Studies has taken the decision to cancel this year’s postgraduate conference, and its annual conference, which was due to take place in July in Bath.

We hope to be able to reschedule the postgraduate conference later in the year; our next annual conference will be in Belfast in 2021. Speakers due to attend the Bath conference have already been contacted by email, and the hope is that many will be able to present their work at Belfast. A new CFP for Belfast will also be issued in due course.

In the coming months we may have to adjust deadlines for some of the Society’s other activities in response to ongoing developments, although we hope that the schedule for all of our prizes will remain the same. We would like to reassure members who currently hold offers of funding from us (including for research, and conferences and workshops), that where activities have had to be postponed due to COVID-19, we will still honour our original commitment and are happy for funds to be spent at a later date. Where members with offers of funding from us have booked tickets and yet not been able to travel due to COVID-19, and are unable to have their tickets refunded, we will also cover these costs. Members in this situation will not be prevented from reapplying for further funds from us to cover the same research activities, once travel restrictions are lifted.

If you have any questions about a particular funding scheme, please contact the member of the SFS executive committee responsible for the scheme; contact details are available via the relevant prizes pages of our website.

Unfortunately Oxford University Press have had to temporarily suspend print production of French Studies and French Studies Bulletin, due to supply chain issues. Members still have full access to these publications online, via the OUP website, throughout the crisis.

We hope that all our members are safe and well, and send you our warmest wishes.

The SFS executive committee

https://www.sfs.ac.uk/about-us/news/2020/covid-19-and-sfs-activities

3.5 Decolonial Dialogues: A new shared space on WordPress

A small network of UK-based social scientists affiliated to the Sociological Review Foundation have been working on designing a new online platform for engaging in interdisciplinary conversations about issues of decoloniality. The new web space is called ‘Decolonial Dialogues’ and it was launched yesterday, via WordPress at the following link: https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com.

Aside from the Home page https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/ (‘Welcome to Decolonial Dialogues’), the site’s main menu is structured into seven

sections:

About us https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/about-us/, featuring c.100-word biographies about the site’s contributors, with embedded links to our individual research profiles and details about our specific interests in decoloniality.
Six additional sub-sections:
- Activism https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/activism/
- Creativity https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/creativity/ (featuring the site’s blog feed).
- Research <https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/research/> (Ethics; Methods; Publications).
- Teaching & Learning https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/teaching/
- Your Voice https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/your-voice (an online feedback/comments form).
- News https://decolonialdialogue.wordpress.com/news/ (showing a clickable monthly calendar of blog posts and listings of forthcoming events, publications, etc.).

We look forward to welcoming additional contributors to the network as future readers, blog ‘followers’ and (hopefully also) new content creators.

3.6 11th European Summer University in Digital Humanities “Culture & Technology” – 28th of July – 7th of August 2020 University of Leipzig

11th EUROPEAN SUMMER UNIVERSITY IN DIGITAL HUMANITIES “CULTURE &
TECHNOLOGY” – 28th OF JULY – 7th OF AUGUST 2020 UNIVERSITY OF LEIPZIG

https://esu.fdhl.info (new website). Temporarily information will be available also on the previous website http://esu.culintec.de/.

The European Summer University in Digital Humanities “Culture & Technology” (ESU DH C&T) takes place now for the 11th time at the University of Leipzig. This year it is organised for the first time by the Forum for Digital Humanities Leipzig (FDHL) (https://fdhl.info/).

Interest in the ESU DH C&T can be expressed already now by creating an account with the ConfTool? of the Summer University https://www.conftool.org/esu2020/. The application phase begins the 10th of March 2020 and ends the 30th of April 2020. Information on how
to apply can be found here: http://esu.culintec.de/?q=node/1304.

The Summer University takes place across 11 whole days. The intensive programme consists of workshops, teaser sessions, public lectures, regular project presentations, a poster session and a panel discussion.

The following workshops are offered (for more information see: http://esu.culintec.de/?q=node/1216)

Michael Dahnke (München, Germany) / Florian Langhanki (University of Würzburg, Germany): OCR4all – An Open Source Tool Providing a Full OCR Workflow For Creating Digital Corpus From Printed Sources (2 x 1 week)

Alex Bia (University Miguel Hernández, Elche, Spain): XML-TEI document encoding, structuring, rendering and transformation (2 weeks)

Carol Chiodo (Harvard University, USA) / Lauren Tilton (University of Richmond, USA): Hands on Humanities Data Workshop – Creation, Discovery and Analysis (2 weeks)

Christoph Draxler / Jeannine Beeken / Khiet Truong: Working with Interview Data – Recording, Transcription and Analysis of Spoken Language Data (2 weeks)

Jan Horstmann (University of Hamburg, Germany) / Mareike Schumacher (University of Hamburg, Germany): Digital Annotation and Analysis of Literary Texts with CATMA 6 (2 weeks)

Bernhard Fisseni (Leibniz-Institut for the German Language Mannheim, Germany) / Andreas Witt (University of Mannheim, Germany): Corpus Linguistics for Digital Humanities. Introduction to Methods and Tools (2 weeks)

Kristin Bührig (University of Hamburg, Germany) / Juliane Schopf (University of Hamburg, Germany): Institutional Communication: Corpora, Analysis, Application (1 week)

Janos Borst (University of Leipzig, Germany) / Felix Helfer (University of Leipzig, Germany): Neural Networks for Natural Language Processing – An Introduction (1 week)

Maciej Eder (Polish Academy of Sciences / Pedagogical University, Cracow, Poland) / Jeremi Ochab (Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland): Stylometry (2 weeks)

Simone Rebora (University of Basel, Switzerland) / Giovanni Pietro Vitali (University College Cork, Ireland): Distant Reading in R. Analyse the text & visualize the Data (2 weeks)

Peter Bell (University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany) / Fabian Offert (University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany): Image Processing and Machine Learning for the Digital Humanities (2 weeks)

David Joseph Wrisley (New York University Abu Dhab, UAE) / Giovanni Pietro Vitali (University College Cork, Ireland) / Randa El Khatib (University of Victoria, Canada): Humanities Data and Mapping Environments (2 weeks)

Katarzyna Anna Kapitan (Museum of National History, Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød, Denmark) / N. Kıvılcım Yavuz (Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, USA): Manuscripts in the Digital Age: XML-Based Catalogues and Editions (2 weeks)

Yael Netzer (Ben Gurion University, Israel) / Renana Keydar (Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel): Digital Archives: Reading and Manipulating Large-Scale Catalogues, Curating and Creating Small-Scale Archives (2 weeks)

Barbara Bordalejo (University of Saskatchewan, Canada) / Peter Robinson (University of Saskatchewan, Canada): Making an edition of a text in many versions (2 weeks)

Each workshop consists of a total of 18 sessions or 36 week-hours. The number of participants in each workshop is limited to 10. Workshops are structured in such a way that participants can either take the two blocks of one workshop or two blocks from different workshops.

The “workload” of the active participation in the European Summer University corresponds to 6 ETCS points.

Like in the former years quite a number of scholarships can be granted to participants of the European Summer University. In fact, the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) makes available also this year generous support to up to 23 alumni / alumnae of German universities. Furthermore, the International Office of Leipzig University offers quite a range of scholarships. On top of this a generous grant from DARIAH-EU allows us to attribute 10 teaching fellowships. All information on the already now (and eventually in the future) available scholarships can be found here: http://esu.culintec.de/?q=node/1303.

The four workshops sponsored by CLARIN-D / CLARIAH-DE allow us, furthermore, to keep participation fees low also this year (see http://esu.culintec.de/?q=node/1305).

The Summer University is directed at 60 participants from all over Europe and beyond. It wants to bring together (doctoral) students, young scholars and academics from the Arts and Humanities, Library Sciences, Social Sciences, the Arts and Engineering and Computer Sciences as equal partners to an interdisciplinary exchange of knowledge and experience in a multilingual and multicultural context and thus create the conditions for future project-based cooperation.

The Leipzig Summer University is special because it not only seeks to offer a space for the discussion and acquisition of new knowledge, skills and competences in those computer technologies which play a central role in Humanities Computing and which determine every day more and more the work done in the Humanities and Cultural Sciences, as well as in publishing, libraries, and archives etc., but because it tries to integrate also linguistics with the Digital Humanities, which pose questions about the consequences and implications of the application of computational methods and tools to cultural artefacts of all kinds.

It is special furthermore because it consciously aims at confronting the so-called Gender Divide, i.e. the under-representation of women in the domain of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in Germany, Europe and many parts of the world, by relying on the challenges that the Humanities with their complex data and their wealth of women represent for Computer Science and Engineering and the further development of the latter, on the overcoming of the borders between the so-called hard and soft sciences and on the integration of Humanities, Computer Science and Engineering.

For all relevant information please consult the new Web-Portal of the European Summer School in Digital Humanities “Culture & Technology”: https://esu.fdhl.info which will be continually updated and integrated with more information as soon as it becomes available. Temporarily information will be available also on the previous website http://esu.culintec.de/.

3.7 Appel à participation concours « Mon master en histoire de l’art en 180 secondes »

L’institut national d’histoire de l’art invite les étudiants en Master2 d’histoire de l’art à présenter leur mémoire pendant 3 minutes, le 20 septembre 2020 à la bibliothèque de l’INHA – salle Labrouste.

Concours – Mon master en histoire de l’art en 180 secondes

2 PRIX À GAGNER :

PRIX INHA : 500€

PRIX QDA : publication de l’intervention dans Le Quotidien de l’Art et1 an d’abonnement

____

CANDIDATEZ AVANT LE 15 MAI 2020

À l’occasion des 37e Journées européennes du patrimoine, l’Institut national d’histoire de l’art invite les étudiants inscrits cette année en master 2 d’histoire de l’art et patrimoine à présenter leurs sujets de recherche en public, en salle Labrouste – bibliothèque de l’INHA, le dimanche 20 septembre 2020.

Les orateurs sélectionnés auront 3 minutes pour faire l’exposé de leurs travaux de façon claire et engageante afin de convaincre un jury composé de personnalités de l’histoire de l’art et du patrimoine mais aussi les internautes qui suivront leurs prestations, filmées et diffusées en direct sur le site de l’INHA.

Deux prix seront décernés :

Un prix de 500 € sera remis par Eric de Chassey, directeur général de l’INHA, pour le prix du jury de l’INHA.
Un prix Quotidien de l’art des internautes, remis par Raphaël Pic, rédacteur en chef du Quotidien de l’Art, récompensera le candidat qui aura obtenu le plus de votes en ligne des internautes : le vainqueur gagnera un an d’abonnement au Quotidien de l’art et sa présentation sera publiée dans le journal.

Tous les participants bénéficieront d’un abonnement de trois mois auQuotidien de l’Art.

Envoyez un CV ainsi que le titre et le résumé de votre recherche (500 signes maximum) à l’adresse jep2020 @ inha.fr avec l’intitulé « Mon master en 180 secondes » avant le 15 mai 2020 à minuit en précisant votre école ou université de rattachement. Vous devez être inscrit en master 2 avec une soutenance prévue en juin ou en septembre 2020.

Les frais de déplacement et de séjour à Paris seront pris en charge et les orateurs sélectionnés auront l’opportunité de suivre une formation à la prise de parole en public.

Retrouvez les présentations des lauréates des éditions 2018 et 2019 (lauréate 2018, lauréate 2019 )

___

Informations à chaud, découvertes, décryptages, parcours remarquables et contributions de journalistes du monde entier, le Quotidien de l’Art propose chaque jour l’essentiel de l’actualité du monde de l’art.

Saviez-vous qu’il existe un abonnement à tarif spécial pour les étudiants à seulement 49€ au lieu de 250€ ?

Cliquez ici pour en bénéficier : http://bit.ly/qdaetud

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En partenariat avec Le Quotidien de l’Art.

3.8 RSA Student and Early Career Awards 2020 – call for nominations

Within these unprecedented times, the Regional Studies Association (RSA) feel that it is important to remember to celebrate the research and work that has been carried out in regional studies and its related fields, including urban and rural studies, city-regions and interstitial spaces. Thus we are calling for nominations (both self-nominations and third-party nominations) of current RSA members for the following awards:

Nathaniel Lichfield Award –for recent Masters graduates who have graduated within the previous year;
RSA PhD Student Award – for registered PhD students who have not yet received their certificate;
RSA Routledge Early Career Award – for early career researchers (within five years of the date on their PhD certificate or equivalent.)

Nominees are expected to have made an original and outstanding contribution to the field of regional studies and its related fields, and should be clearly identified as having made a leading personal contribution in the work. Nominations should include a fully referenced piece of work in English, which fits the research interests of the Regional Studies Association.

The application deadline is 30th April 2020.

More details on the application process can be found at https://www.regionalstudies.org/funding/awards-2020/

3.9 ASMCF Visiting Scholar Seminar Series

In support of its commitment to fostering collaboration between francophone and UK academics in its fields of interest, the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France offers one grant of up to the value of £2500 to networks of members to support an annual seminar series of three or more thematically-related events, tenable in any UK or Irish university, or institution of higher education in the UK or Ireland, each of which will include a different francophone academic based in a francophone country alongside a member of the hosting department. The award is to cover the costs of the francophone scholars and where applicable, professionals / practitioners and organisation costs of the events.The Association will also consider proposals which include professionals and practitioners working in fields relevant to the academic project. The scheme is designed to support the invitation of early-career and established scholars. The deadline is 15 May 2020, for activity taking place in the following academic session. Applications should be sent to the ASMCF Honorary Secretary, Dr Fiona Barclay, at fiona.barclay@stir.ac.uk

Applications must be completed by a network of academic members of staff who are members of the ASMCF in at least three institutions in the UK or Ireland. The UK or Irish host applicants are expected to organise, direct and take academic and organisational responsibility for the seminar series. Within this network a Main Applicant should be identified as the principal organiser with whom the Association will correspond. Full details of the criteria applying to the scheme and guidance on how to apply are available at http://www.asmcf.org, under ‘Funding and Prizes’. Informal enquiries may be directed to Dr Fiona Barclay, at fiona.barclay@stir.ac.uk

Applicants will normally be notified of the outcome of their application within one month of the closing date.

3.10 ASMCF Initiative Fund

Please find below details of the ASMCF Initiative Fund. The deadline for applications is 15th May 2020. For more details about awards/prizes, please visit the ASMCF website: https://asmcf.org/funding-prizes/

The Association’s Initiative Fund provides small grants (up to £500) to individuals who are members of the Association to help defray the costs of research events (conferences, study days, workshops etc.), including postgraduate-led initiatives. The Association is particularly keen to encourage and support regionally-based collaborative initiatives on the part of its members, which should be intended to benefit a wide public. More details about the prize can be found on the ASMCF website: https://asmcf.org/funds-prizes-awards/initiative-fund/

3.11 Call for Proposals: University of Wales Press French and Francophone Studies Series

The University of Wales Press is commissioning work within the established French and Francophone Studies series. The series aims to re-evaluate traditional representations of French and Francophone identities, and to encourage the exchange of ideas and perspectives across a wide range of discipline areas. The emphasis throughout the series is on the ways in which French and Francophone communities across the world are evolving into the twenty-first century.

Proposals are welcomed from scholars working within the modern and contemporary period. Projects with an interdisciplinary or cross-cultural focus will also be considered positively.

The collection includes research-orientated monographs and edited volumes at the cutting edge of their discipline areas.

Themes may include, but are not limited to:

France in an international context; the country’s relationship with significant others and responses to transnational and global trends and debates.
Constructions and reconfigurations of Francophone cultures and societies, now and for the future.
Cultural change in France and the Francophone world and the emergence of new forms of literary, filmic and cultural production.
Historical studies of France and the Francophone world.
Questions of identity and memory transmission through French and Francophone responses to the past.
Political change and transformation in France and the Francophone world.

Please send expressions of interest to the series editors, Professor Hanna Diamond (DiamondH@cardiff.ac.uk) and Professor Claire Gorrara (Gorrara@cardiff.ac.uk), and/or Sarah Lewis (s.lewis@press.wales.ac.uk) at the University of Wales Press.

For more information on our series, please visit our website: www.uwp.co.uk

3.12 Society for Caribbean Studies Annual Conference, 1-3 July 2020 – CANCELLED

The committee confirm their decision to cancel the 2020 Society for Caribbean Studies (SCS) annual conference.

Subject to the agreement of members, we would like to roll the current conference arrangements over to next year, July 2021. Those who have submitted abstracts this year and had them accepted will not be asked to resubmit for 2021 (unless they wish to change their abstract), but will be asked later this year to confirm their intention to attend next year’s conference. Those who were offered a bursary (conference fee waiver) for the 2020 conference will be eligible to receive their bursary in 2021, provided they confirm their intention to attend. We will also send out our usual call for papers later this year. The call will be for those who did not submit abstracts in 2020 but wish to be considered for inclusion in the programme in 2021 and for any presenters accepted in 2020 who would like to submit a new abstract for the conference in 2021. All conference attendees will be asked to register in May or June 2021, as normal. Given that we have not visited Butetown Community Centre nor Cardiff before, and that we were so warmly welcomed when we visited the centre in January, the current committee are keen to keep the conference venue the same next year. However, given that there will be no formal AGM this year, I will circulate a separate email for current members, asking for comments about venue, dates, continuing membership of SCS, and committee roles.

Our Bridget Jones awardee, Amilcar Sanatan, has agreed to attend and present in 2021. Our keynote speaker in 2021 is scheduled to be Dr Edil Sepulveda – details of his impressive CV are here: https://www.prdiasporasummit.com/edilsepulveda.html. As an important climate scientist and advocate for Puerto Rican self-support and resilience, Edil has crucial insights to share on climate change and sustainability, issues that are now and will continue to be increasingly important for the region. Eccles Centre have generously agreed to pay the costs of his attendance in 2021.

In addition, Dr Sepulveda has agreed to also give a short recorded lecture this year, and to participate in a live online question and answer/discussion based on the lecture, on 2nd July 2020. The event will be free to attend, and we hope that as many of you as possible will participate in the discussion. More details will follow, but for the moment please save the date!

Although we sadly cannot meet as normal in this strange year, 2020, the committee is very much looking forward to seeing you at the online event and at our conference in 2021.

3.13 Samuel Beckett et la Guerre d’Algérie – online event (18 May)

INSTITUTE OF MODERN LANGUAGES RESEARCH

School of Advanced Study • University of London

Samuel Beckett et la Guerre d’Algérie

18 May 2020

14:00-15:30

ONLINE EVENT

https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/22498

Speaker: Jean-Michel Gouvard, Professeur de Langue et de Littérature françaises (Université de Bordeaux Montaigne – France)

Dans son essai de référence Beckett’s Political Imagination, Emilie Morin a établi que, dès la fin des années 1950, Samuel Beckett avait eu connaissance des agissements de l’armée française en Algérie et, entre autres, de la pratique instituée de la torture. Nous souhaiterons prolonger son travail en montrant comment les informations dont disposait Samuel Beckett sur le sujet ont profondément influencé l’écriture même de Comment c’est (1961), et qu’il existe en particulier une forte intertextualité entre son texte et La Question d’Henri Alleg, l’un des témoignages les plus importants publiés sur la torture en Algérie. Nous proposerons ainsi de relire Comment c’est comme une dénonciation cryptée de la politique colonialiste de la France, et l’un des textes les plus « engagés » de Samuel Beckett.

Samuel Beckett and the Algerian War

In her book, Beckett’s Political Imagination, Emilie Morin notes how, by the end of the 1950s, Samuel Beckett had become aware of the actions of the French army in Algeria and, among other things, its established practice of torture. This talk will build on Morin’s work by demonstrating how Beckett’s knowledge of these practices deeply influenced his writing of Comment c’est (1961) [How it Is], which has strong intertextual links with Henri Alleg’s La Question (1958) [The Question], one of the most important testimonies on torture in Algeria ever published. It will be argued that it is possible to reread Comment c’est as a coded denunciation of French colonial policy, and that this is one of Beckett’s most ‘committed’ texts.

This talk will be delivered in French.

This event will be held online. Please note that it is essential that you register in advance for the event: https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/22498

Guidance on how to participate in the online event can be downloaded from the event page

3.14 Online Resources at the IMLR

The IMLR is delighted to announce a new area on our website: Online Resources. We are pleased to able to continue promoting and facilitating research whilst our physical building remains closed.

We have a number of online events lined up, with more to follow:

12-19 May – Playing with Prose: Online Theatre Workshop

https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/22507

18 May – Samuel Beckett et la Guerre d’Algérie

https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/22498

3 June – Digital Modern Languages

https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/22490

16-17 June – Disrupting Digital Monolingualism

https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/22492

The intention is to record these events and make them available online. Also in our Podcasts section are taster sessions for events which have had to be postponed, such as the session on ‘Decolonising Modern Languages – a preview, and recordings of virtual events such as A Virtual Encounter between Andrea Grill and Tess Lewis.

If you would like to write about your research, we would welcome contributions to our blog ‘Living Languages’. Or perhaps write a short informal piece on the books you’re reading – we have a special section for that https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/about-us/what-are-you-reading . Do contact us if you’d like to contribute.

We are especially delighted that our first open access book is now available to download: “Writing and the West German Protest Movements: The Textual Revolution” by Mererid Puw Davies: https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/publications/open-access-books. Further publications are in preparation.

We are developing other initiatives so keep an eye out for further announcements.

Do you have any suggestions as to how IMLR can help support your discipline? Get in touch and let us know.

3.15 Cancellation of Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies Annual Conference 2020/Call for Video Presentation Proposals

Dear colleagues,

Given the recent announcement that COVID-19 social distancing measures are likely to remain in place in the UK for the rest of the calendar year, the Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies has taken the difficult but inevitable decision to cancel this year’s annual conference, due to take place in November 2020. The next SFPS conference will now take place in November 2021 (more details to follow nearer the time).

In order to maintain the Society’s academic discussion in these testing times, however, we should like to invite proposals for 10-minute video presentations, on the theme of ‘Health, Disease and Contagion in the Francophone Postcolonial World’.

Please send proposals of 200-250 words to the (would-be) Conference Organisers, Chabha Ben Ali Amer (c.benaliamer@lancaster.ac.uk) and Abdelbaqi Ghorab (a.ghorab@lancaster.ac.uk), by the deadline of Friday 26 June. These will then be considered by the SFPS Executive Committee and a selection of 4-5 ‘winning’ presentations will be hosted, and freely accessible, on the SFPS website from autumn 2020.

We are very sad not to be able to welcome you in person to the SFPS conference this year but hope that you will continue to engage with the Society’s activities virtually. Please visit our website (http://sfps.org.uk/) where you can find out about the many benefits of membership, and follow us on Facebook or Twitter ( www.facebook.com/societyforfrancophonepostcolonialstudies; twitter.com/SFPS_UK).

Wishing you and your families health and happiness.

Best wishes,

Julia Waters

President, Society for Francophone Postcolonial Studies.

4. New Publications

4.1 Ian Coller, Muslims and Citizens: Islam, Politics, and the French Revolution (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2020)

From the beginning, French revolutionaries imagined their transformation as a universal one that must include Muslims, Europe’s most immediate neighbors. They believed in a world in which Muslims could and would be French citizens, but they disagreed violently about how to implement their visions of universalism and accommodate religious and social difference. Muslims, too, saw an opportunity, particularly as European powers turned against the new French Republic, leaving the Muslim polities of the Middle East and North Africa as France’s only friends in the region. In Muslims and Citizens, Coller examines how Muslims came to participate in the political struggles of the revolution and how revolutionaries used Muslims in France and beyond as a test case for their ideals. In his final chapter, Coller reveals how the French Revolution’s fascination with the Muslim world paved the way to Napoleon’s disastrous invasion of Egypt in 1798.

Ian Coller is professor of history at the University of California, Irvine. He is the author of Arab France: Islam and the Making of Modern Europe, 1798–1831.

4.2 Sue Peabody, Les enfants de Madeleine. Famille, liberté, secrets et mensonges dans les colonies françaises de l’océan indien, traduit et adapté de l’américain par Pierre H. Boulle (Paris: Karthala, 2019)

Les enfants de Madeleine trace une saga politique et sociale, au travers du destin d’une famille tenue en esclavage dans l’océan Indien, à partir d’une jeune Bengalie, Madeleine, vendue en Inde à une femme célibataire, puis à une famille qu’elle accompagne depuis la France jusqu’à La Réunion. Pour elle et pour ses enfants, surtout Furcy, son fils benjamin, la question de l’affranchissement est centrale. L’ouvrage décrit non seulement le combat pour la liberté de ce dernier, devant les cours françaises et britanniques, pendant plusieurs décennies, mais aussi l’acharnement contre lui de ses maîtres et de tout particulièrement Joseph Lory, son probable beau-frère, révélant ainsi les rapports ambigus qui existaient entre maîtres et esclaves dans les îles Mascareignes au cours du XVIII^e siècle finissant et de la première moitié du XIX^e.

Les enfants de Madeleine n’est toutefois pas une simple traduction de l’original américain, car de nouvelles recherches, faites par l’auteure ou transmise à elles par des chercheurs en France, à La Réunion et à Maurice, ont permis d’incorporer d’importantes données sur Furcy, sur la première maîtresse de sa mère, et sur la famille de sa probable première concubine, Virginie Béga. En plus, l’ouvrage clarifie les processus judiciaires que Furcy initia auprès des tribunaux coloniaux pour sa liberté et ses réparations. Le livre donne ainsi un nouvel éclairage à cet épopée de deux familles réunionnaises, les Madeleine et les Routier/Lory, laquelle a contribué à redéfinir ce que représentait l’esclavage et la liberté tant en droit que dans le vécu aux XVIII^e et XIX^e siècles.

Sue Peabody détient la chaire Meyer en arts libéraux et histoire à l’université d’État du Washington aux États-Unis. Elle et son traducteur, Pierre H. Boulle, sont co-auteurs du Droit des Noirs en France au temps de l’esclavage (L’Harmattan, 2014, coll. « Autrement Mêmes »).

Commentaires sur l’édition américaine :

“What does it mean to be free? To be a slave? To belong to a family? In this remarkable book, historian Sue Peabody—one of the world’s leading authorities on slavery in the French Empire—shows that these big questions are often intertwined. Through an intimate portrait of one enslaved man fighting for his dignity, Peabody shines a brilliant light on the worlds in which he and his forebears lived, stretching from India to the Mascarene Islands to the courts of Paris. This is both biography and global history at their very best.”—Brett Rushforth, author of Bonds of Alliance: Indigenous and Atlantic Slaveries in New France

“Madeleine’s Children, in the best tradition of microhistory, moves beyond this individual and exceptional story to provide insights into wider issues of race, abolitionism, and governance in the French colonial world of the period.” — Nigel Worden, American Historical Review

“The book has surprising contemporary relevance. Close reading suggests how legal machinations and deceptive cloaking enable slaving practices to survive, even thrive, in today’s globalized economy.” – CHOICE

4.3 Nouvelles Études Francophones (volume 34, no 2, 2019)

Le dernier numéro de la revue Nouvelles Études Francophones (volume 34, n^o2, 2019) peut être consulté en libre accès sur Project Muse.

Il contient notamment un « Hommage à Lilyan Kesteloot », le discours de la lauréate du Prix CIÉF, l’écrivaine Brigitte Haentjens, à l’occasion du dernier congrès de l’association à Ottawa en 2019, et un dossier sur « Fait et fiction dans le récit historique francophone ».

4.4 Amy L. Hubbell, Hoarding Memory: Covering the Wounds of the Algerian War (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2020)

Hoarding Memory looks at the ways the stories of the Algerian War (1954–62) have proliferated among the former French citizens of Algeria. By engaging hoarding as a model, Amy L. Hubbell demonstrates the simultaneously productive and destructive nature of clinging to memory. These memories present massive amounts of material, akin to the stored objects in a hoarder’s house. Through analysis of fiction, autobiography, art, and history that extensively use collecting, layering, and repetition to address painful war memories, Hubbell shows trauma can be hidden within its own representation.

Hoarding Memory dedicates chapters to specific authors and artists who use this hoarding technique: Marie Cardinal, Leïla Sebbar, and Benjamin Stora in writing and Nicole Guiraud and Patrick Altes in art. Each were born in Algeria during colonial French rule but in vastly different contexts, and each suffered personal or inherited trauma from racism, physical and psychological abuse, terrorist and other violent acts of war, and exile in France. Zineb Sedira’s artwork is also included as an example of traumatic memory inherited from her parents.

Ultimately this book shows how traumatic experience can be conveyed in a seemingly open account that is compounded and compacted by the volume of words, images, and other memorial debris that testify to the pain.

Now available for pre-order. Please see below for further details:

https://www.nebraskapress.unl.edu/nebraska/9781496214027/

SFPS Mailing: April 2020

1. Calls for Papers/Contributions

1.1 CALL FOR PAPERS: Tragedy and Philosophy