Memory, Transgression and Change - International Interdisciplinary Conference

Call for Papers: 

This conference seeks to explore the subject of transgression, and the intersections between memory, transgression and representation.

Critic Stefan Horlacher describes transgression, raising the following pertinent questions:           

Is transgression, as some theorists would have it, central to postmodernity, is it the hallmark of an aesthetic of the modern, or is it an integral part of our history of laws, the symbolic order and taboos? Does transgressive behavior deny limits and boundaries or does it exceed and thus complete them? And doesn’t every rule, limit, boundary or edge carry with it its own fracture, penetration or impulse to disobey?

      Scholars have often examined transgression in relation to literary language and representation. Commenting on the popularity of transgressive fiction, Murat Göç investigates the reasons why transgressive fiction—"the fiction of violence, crime and excess, the fiction of transgender and trans identity” is popular yet at the same time refusing to conform to boundaries of taste and convention. Meanwhile, in the political realm, Erik P. Busy considers Trump’s “transgressive debate style”, inviting an examination of the idea of transgression in politics and history. There are thus rich examples of process, manifestation, and representation of transgression in numerous fields.

Transgression is sometimes seen in its violent, aggressive, or destructive dimensions, and the conference welcomes examinations of these aspects. However, we are also keen to hear papers which investigate positive empowering and enabling aspects of transgression. The power of the imagination, the arts, literature, psychology, photography and film, history, and sociology may all provide evidence of the positive aspects of transgression. Transgression can furthermore be examined as an individual expression or a collective manifestation. Polish literary scholar Maria Janion and her collaborators from the University of Gdansk demonstrated as early as in the 1980s that transgression was the crucial factor of the development of self-awareness in the social, political, ethical, and psychological areas of human life.

We would like all these problems to be contextualised as broadly as possible, with reference to historical, social, religious, cultural, psychological, artistic and other factors. Different forms of presentations are encouraged, including case studies, theoretical investigations, problem-oriented arguments, and comparative analyses.

The conference is intended as an interdisciplinary event. Hence, we invite researchers representing various academic disciplines: anthropology, history, sociology, philosophy, psychology, psychoanalysis, neurophysiology, literary studies, theatre studies, film studies, memory studies, consciousness studies, dream studies, gender studies, postcolonial studies, animal studies, medical sciences, psychiatry, social policy, cognitive sciences and others.

We are happy to hear from both experienced scholars and young academics at the start of their careers, as well as doctoral and graduate students. We also invite all persons interested in participating in the conference as listeners, without giving a presentation. We hope that due to its interdisciplinary nature, the conference will bring many interesting observations on and discussions about the role of memory and transgression in the past and in the present-day world.

Our repertoire of suggested topics includes but is not restricted to:

• Transgression and violence

• Transgression as empowering or positive

• Transgression and promoting change

• Popular protest as transgression

• Transgression and representation

• Transgression and the limits of literary language

• Transgression and social movements

• Transgression and history/politics

• Transgression in the arts

• Transgression and psychology

• Transgression and science

• Transgression and technology

• Transgressing memory and imagination

• Transgression and gender

• Transgression and taboo

• Transgression and the body

• Transgression and manipulation

• Collective and individual transgression

• Transgression and technology

• Transgression and AI

Please submit abstracts (no longer than 300 words) of your proposed 20-minute presentations, together with a short biographical note, by 25 March 2024 to: [email protected]