COMPARISONS, INTERACTIONS AND CONTESTATIONS WITHIN/ACROSS CULTURES

17 – 20 June 2010 – Bucharest, Romania, and Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

CENTRE of EXCELLENCE FOR THE STUDY OF CULTURAL IDENTITY, University of
Bucharest, Romania

Department of English and American Studies,

St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

The conference aims at exploring comparisons, interactions and
contestations within and across cultures by bringing together
scholarship in literary and cultural studies, linguistics, translation
studies, history, sociology, geography, film, media, political science
and other related areas of the humanities and social sciences. Topics
include (but are not limited to) basis and mechanisms of intercultural
comparison, intercultural comparison and/in cultural identity
construction, intercultural comparison and language politics, cross-
cultural interactions and their theorization, interactions and/in
intercultural encounters, interactions and/in/through cultural
exchange, cross-cultural interactions in/and architecture and town
planning, cross-cultural interactions in/and culinary and sartorial
practices and customs, contestation and/in socio-cultural practices,
contestations of “tradition” and their representations in literature,
the visual arts and the media.

     While the conference is targeted at scholars working in the broad
area of English, it is also hoped that it will attract colleagues in
Irish and Celtic studies. Comparisons and interactions between Irish
culture and Eastern/Central European cultures will be of particular
interest as well as parallels between Celtic and Eastern/Central
European languages and literatures.

     The conference will start in Bucharest, the capital and key
cultural centre of Romania, will include a visit to Ruse, Bulgaria,
the birthplace of Nobel prize laureate Elias Canetti, and will
conclude in Veliko Tarnovo, “the ancient capital of Bulgaria, famous
for its old university and monasteries, its storks and its frescoes,
its castle and its ancient Arabesque merchants' houses” (Malcolm
Bradbury).

Abstracts (ca 500 words) and short bios (ca 7-8 lines) are due by 1
February 2010. Please e-mail to both Mihaela Irimia,
mirimia2...@yahoo.com, and Ludmilla Kostova, lkost...@mbox.digsys.bg.

The most beautiful thing about this event is the chance of recrossing the invincible bridges between Bulgaria and Romania that have brought us here and given us the closest routes back to our identity in darker spaces of history.

--- On Thu, 7/2/09, Webmaster <panad...@gmail.com> wrote:

From: Webmaster <panad...@gmail.com>
Subject: [BSBS] CfP: COMPARISONS, INTERACTIONS AND CONTESTATIONS WITHIN/ACROSS CULTURES
To: "Bulgarian Society for British Studies (BSBS)" <BulgarianSocietyforBritishStudies@googlegroups.com>
Date: Thursday, July 2, 2009, 3:39 AM

International INTERDISCIPLINARY conference

COMPARISONS, INTERACTIONS AND CONTESTATIONS WITHIN/ACROSS CULTURES

17 – 20 June 2010 – Bucharest, Romania, and Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

CENTRE of EXCELLENCE FOR THE STUDY OF CULTURAL IDENTITY, University of
Bucharest, Romania

Department of English and American Studies,

St. Cyril and St. Methodius University of Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

The conference aims at exploring comparisons, interactions and
contestations within and across cultures by bringing together
scholarship in literary and cultural studies, linguistics, translation
studies, history, sociology, geography, film, media, political science
and other related areas of the humanities and social sciences. Topics
include (but are not limited to) basis and mechanisms of intercultural
comparison, intercultural comparison and/in cultural identity
construction, intercultural comparison and language politics, cross-
cultural interactions and their theorization, interactions and/in
intercultural encounters, interactions and/in/through cultural
exchange, cross-cultural interactions in/and architecture and town
planning, cross-cultural interactions in/and culinary and sartorial
practices and customs, contestation and/in socio-cultural practices,
contestations of “tradition” and their representations in literature,
the visual arts and the media.

     While the conference is targeted at scholars working in the broad
area of English, it is also hoped that it will attract colleagues in
Irish and Celtic studies. Comparisons and interactions between Irish
culture and Eastern/Central European cultures will be of particular
interest as well as parallels between Celtic and Eastern/Central
European languages and literatures.

     The conference will start in Bucharest, the capital and key
cultural centre of Romania, will include a visit to Ruse, Bulgaria,
the birthplace of Nobel prize laureate Elias Canetti, and will
conclude in Veliko Tarnovo, “the ancient capital of Bulgaria, famous
for its old university and monasteries, its storks and its frescoes,
its castle and its ancient Arabesque merchants' houses” (Malcolm
Bradbury).

Abstracts (ca 500 words) and short bios (ca 7-8 lines) are due by 1
February 2010. Please e-mail to both Mihaela Irimia,
mirimia2...@yahoo.com, and Ludmilla Kostova, lkost...@mbox.digsys.bg.

Thanks, Geri.
Hopefully, there will be other good things about it, too - like thought-provoking papers and, above all, fruitful discussions - a conference should be a dialogic event - with people exchanging ideas rather than just listening to adorable/adored plenary speakers... or casually dropping in to present their own stuff and heading off for somewhere else... Of course we've all done this at one point or another...
all the best,
ludmilla