Call for Papers: Modernisms, migrations and margins. Amsterdam, 10-13 August 2017
With the aim of establishing a working group that will examine the diffusion of modernism from a global perspective, contributions are welcome for a proposed panel at the Modernist Studies Association 19th conference to be held in Amsterdam.
“Modernisms, migrations and margins”. Migrants and migrations played an important role in the global diffusion of Modernism. This phenomenon is particularly conspicuous around the Second World War, when numerous artists and intellectuals fled Europe and sought refuge in other parts of the world, but is not restricted to the period of the 1930s and 1940s. Rather, immigration and emigration are an integral part of the emergence of Modernism, conditioning the processes of transfer and exchange that gave rise to the historical avant-gardes, as well as consolidating their existence through the formation of international networks. The present panel seeks contributions that examine the functions exercised by migrants,exiles and refugees in shaping Modernist practices on a global level. This includes the dissemination of European movements in non-Western contexts (Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East), but is not restricted to a binary narrative of modern versus traditional or centre versus periphery. The place of margins and marginal experience in shaping broader perceptions of Modernism needs to be explored and understood more fully.
Please send a paper title, 250-word abstract, and a brief bio to Rafael Cardoso at rafaelcardoso.email@gmail.com by 27th January 2017.