In the wake of crisis in Europe, bits and pieces of the past are being resurrected as a means of understanding the present and imagining the future. Historical figures are re-evaluated and held out as models, once-dismissed ideologies reappear as possibilities or as bogeymen, myths and symbols from the past crop up in new productions, and old political and economic institutions are revived as alternatives for action. But resurrections are not simply about nostalgia, and they aren’t just a restoration of the past in unchanged form. Resurrections necessitate fundamental transformations: inserting old things into new contexts, changing their natures, and assigning them new meanings and values.
Thus, for its 21st International Conference of Europeanists, the Council for European Studies (CES) invites sessions and papers that relate to the theme of “resurrections.” What elements of Europe’s past, and present, are amenable to reanimation? How do they work in contemporary debate, and how is their relevance to the present disputed? What is the process through which they are revived and how are they changed as they are brought back to life or combined with new elements?
The Council also welcomes proposals for panels, roundtables, book discussions and individual papers on the study of Europe broadly defined and encourages submissions from the widest range of disciplines. In particular, CES welcomes panels that combine disciplines, nationalities, and generations. Proposals must be submitted between August 15, 2013 and October 1, 2013.
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