Perspectives on Endangerment
A Conference of the Graduiertenkolleg Postcolonial Studies
Evangelische Akademie Tutzing
November 4-6, 2003
Call for Papers
"Perspectives on Endangerment" the annual conference of the =
Graduiertenkolleg Postcolonial Studies at the University of Munich is =
taking place on November 4-6, 2003 at the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing, =
a pleasant lakeside conference-centre in the outskirts of Munich.
In the early twenty-first century, the romantic motif of disappearance, =
while more prevalent than ever, is clearly insufficient to account for =
the fact that many marginalized societies/cultures in the world, and the =
minority languages they speak, are genuinely under threat. Endangerment =
is not just a social fact but a bona fide field of interdisciplinary =
academic research: linguists investigate language death and the =
phenomenon of endangered languages; anthropologists accumulate evidence =
of, while also interrogating the notion of, endangered cultures; =
biologists warn against a further loss of global biodiversity, pointing =
to a growing number of endangered species as the sign of a new wave of =
extinction that might, if left unchecked, place the entire planet under =
threat; and, not least, a variety of disciplinary specialists are joined =
in the formidable task of crisis management in the several regions of =
the world that are currently ravaged by pandemic combinations of hunger, =
war and disease that have already claimed the lives of millions, and =
jeopardise the lives of millions more. The conference will move between =
discursive and empirical approaches to endangerment, inquiring not just =
into obvious cases of threatened lives, languages and societies/cultures =
but also into the discourses used to represent them - and into the =
possible meanings of 'endangerment' itself. Particular attention will be =
paid to instances and patterns of endangerment in formerly colonised =
societies, and to the historical links between more recent neo-colonial =
practices, as well as older regimes of global imperialism, and the =
dangers posed to the daily lives of large numbers of marginalized =
peoples in both the 'developed' and the 'developing' world today.
Likely paper topics could include but are not limited to:
* perspectives on language death and its socio-cultural =
implications
* the rhetoric of conservatism and endangerment
* poverty and the postcolonial
* gender and endangerment
* the tension between activist and academic representations of =
endangered languages/societies/species
* the commodification of disappearance
* indigenous responses to endangerment
* (post)colonial variations on the apocalyptic imaginary
* endangerment and the invention of tradition
* endangerment, loss, and memory
* endangerment and the pursuit of industrial (and other forms =
of modern) development
* endangerment as a consequence of ecological imperialism
Abstracts of 250-300 words for 15-20 minute papers should be sent to:
Graduiertenkolleg Postcolonial Studies
Institut f=FCr Englische Philologie
Department f=FCr Anglistik und Amerikanistik
Universit=E4t M=FCnchen
Schellingstr. 3
D-80799 M=FCnchen
graduiertenkolleg@anglistik.uni-muenchen.de
The deadline for abstracts is June 1, 2003
The Conference fee including accommodation and all meals is
Eur 250,-- for a single room
Eur 200,-- for a double room
Eur 100,-- for students
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From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
CFP@english.upenn.edu
Full Information at
http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/
or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu
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