Call for Papers: "Fakes and Forgeries, Conmen and Counterfeits"
Contributions are invited to an interdisciplinary conference on "Fakes
and Forgeries, Conmen and Counterfeits," to be held at Durham Castle
(UK) on 8th and 9th July 2002.
Recent cultural theory has called into question traditional notions of
authenticity and originality. Despite critical pronouncements of the
death of the author and the substitution of the simulacrum for the
original, however, making a distinction between the genuine and the
fake continues to play a major role in our everyday understanding and
evaluation of culture, law and politics. Consider, for example, the
fiasco surrounding the "forged" Hitler diaries, law suits against
auction houses for failing to detect forgeries in the art market, or
the problem of plagiarism at universities. It still seems to matter
that we can spot the difference. But what are we to make of conspiracy
theories that the moon landings were faked in a Hollywood studio; the
Sokal hoax article in Social Text; or Fragments, Binjamin
Wilkomirski's "fake" Holocaust memoir? Has the distinction between the
counterfeit and the real been undermined by the technological ability
to make copies that are indistinguishable -- and sometimes
better -- than the original? Has the notion of authenticity changed
in recent times? Do different cultures set the boundaries in
alternative ways?
This conference seeks to bring together scholars from a variety of
disciplines -- cultural theory, literary studies, film studies,
history, art history, cultural anthropology, economics -- in order to
explore the historical, social and cultural significance of fakes,
forgeries, hoaxes and counterfeits.
Possible topics could include:-
* fake memoirs
* film "mockumentaries"
* counterfeit currency
* branding, logos and ripoff goods
* frauds, scams, swindles and cons
* confidence tricksters
* P. T. Barnum and Boggs
* disguise and deception
* blackface and passing
* masquerades and ventriloquism
* forgery in the art world
* faked archaeological and scientific discoveries
* internet hoaxes and urban legends
* conspiracy theories about forged evidence and misinformation
* digital imaging and virtual reality
* detection and authentication
* plagiarism and copyright
* retro repro
Further details of the conference will be available later at:
www.art.man.ac.uk/english/fakes.html
Publication of selected papers is planned for 2003/4.
Please email a 250-word abstract by 1st January 2002 to both
organisers:
j.j.long@durham.ac.uk peter.knight@man.ac.uk
Dr Jonathan Long Dr Peter Knight
Department of German Department of English
University of Durham University of Manchester
Durham, DH1 4EW Manchester, M13 9PL
UK UK
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