[Bilimsel Haber] CfP: Conference of the International Society for Cultural History Ghent University, Belgium, August 28-31, 2008

[Onur Inal]

Orientations

Inaugural Conference of the International Society for Cultural History Ghent
University, Belgium, August 28-31, 2008

- Call for Papers -

The study of culture whether it be from a regional, a national or a more
global perspective has been central to the humanities for at least two
decades now. In this period, we have seen the rise of several disciplinary
movements within this ever-expanding domain of research. Cultural studies,
cultural criticism, cultural analysis and cultural anthropology are some of
the more persistent labels to have been put forward in an attempt to
describe and reorganise the field. Given the fact that the study of cultural
artefacts and practices nowadays often steers a distinct historical course,
the label of cultural history could be proposed as a sort of umbrella-term,
comprising the previous ones. But is it, really? At this four-day event the
inaugural assembly of the International Society for Cultural History that
was founded at a successful conference on cultural history in Aberdeen in
July 2007 we want to address a series of fundamental questions about the
recent impact and the near future of diverse forms of cultural history.
Taking its cue from the fundamental work of, among others, Catherine Belsey,
Peter Burke, Lynn Hunt, and Philippe Poirrier, the conference will tackle
the vexing question of the precise nature of cultural history. Which
disciplinary models and/or critical paradigms can be brought together under
this label? Do we actually need such a unifying label? If we do, then what
exactly do we understand by it? Are there different, national (British,
French, German, 
Italian, Finnish) forms of cultural history and what distinguishes them from
one another? How does one teach cultural history and what does one teach
when one teaches cultural history?

The organisers of this conference welcome papers (theoretical, practical or
a combination of both) that will enable us to formulate answers to the
questions listed above, but also to other issues concerning future
orientations of the field of cultural history. Where does the field stand,
and where is it heading to? How does it relate to other academic disciplines
both within and outside the humanities? The label of cultural history is a
slippery one, consisting of two no less slippery concepts culture and
history. The past few decades have also witnessed fierce methodological
debates concerning the latter term, debates about the theory and practice of
historiography, about historicism and presentism, about the irretrievable
loss of the past and its stubborn presence, about history and memory, about
historical traumas and ways of overcoming them. Did these and other
historiographical debates in any way alter the domain of cultural history?
Is cultural history a specific brand of history, in terms of the topics that
it studies or does it, rather, involve a distinct methodology that sets it
apart from other historical disciplines? Should 
we take cultural history as something different from political history,
religious history, the history of science, the history of medicine, the
history of art and literature, or does it comprise all of the above? If it
does, what are the professional expectations with which cultural historians
find themselves confronted? Are they supposed be true homines and feminae
universales or, rather, amateurs, in the positive sense of that word? And
what about the inter- or multidisciplinary nature of cultural history?

Apart from proposals tackling disciplinary issues like the above ones, the
organisers also very much welcome papers that bring cultural history into
practice. Alain Corbin's book on Louis-Fran ois Pinagot e.g. (The life of an
unknown, Columbia UP, 2001), dealt both with the methodological difficulties
of a cultural historian how to write the history of an unknown craftsman?
how to use archives, the findings of the history of science and religion and
of political history to portray the inner and external world of a simple man
living on the countryside during the nineteenth century? as it tried to
understand how Louis-Fran ois oriented his personal and professional life.
The sound of the clocks, the rumours on the Parisian political life, the
presence of a schoolmaster or a clergyman, the rhythm of nature, the
decisions of parliament and the prosperity of his fellow countrymen
organized the life of this simple, unknown man. In terms of more traditional
disciplinary markers, we welcome contributions by political historians,
historians of science and medicine, art historians, historians of literature
and music, specialists of the history of philosophy and religion, etc.

By opting for the notion of Orientations as the conferences key-word, the
organisers also want to suggest that cultural history is actually all about
the art of orientating oneself, ones group, ones region, ones country, ones
world. Paper proposals (400 words max.) should be sent to both
jurgen.pieters at ugent.be and alexander.roose at ugent.be. Deadline for
submission is January 31st, 2008. Notification of acceptance will be given
before March 1st. Those invited to speak at the conference will be expected
to become members of the ISCH before July 1st, when the final programme will
be posted. Further information on the ISCH can be found at
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/isch .

Keynote speakers include:
Moritz Bassler 
Catherine Belsey
Fernand Hallyn
Pascal Ory