Apologies for cross posting
_*Call for papers*_
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_*RGS-IBG Annual Conference, Manchester: 26-28 August 2009*_
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*_** <https://gesmail.physics.gla.ac.uk/webmail/www.rgs.org/AC2009>_**_
Session Title:* Certain subjects? Constructing identities, personalities
and personas from the archive.*
Sponsored by the *Historical Geography Research Group*
//Session Organisers:/ *Isla Forsyth, Will Hasty, Cheryl McGeachan and
Jo Norcup*/* (University of Glasgow)*
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‘I have become a collector of shards. Shards of memory, things passed
down: told to me at the end of this long line of telling. I want to
catch these shards, these half-lit, often, paste jewels. I don’t know
how authentic they are, does it even matter? For me it doesn’t matter. I
am making anew, building something from the remains. Wanting to honour
the fleeting; the fragment, fractured histories and stories. Not passed
down, but dredged up.’ (Terri-Ann White, 2004)
For the historical geographer the site of the archive has always been
one of significance, a treasure trove of wonderments, and often deep
frustrations. In its many guises, the archive provides the researcher
with the opportunity to explore the terrains of worlds past through the
/lives/ of real people. Lives can be (re)constructed through
(geo)biographical research, fragments of a life pieced together from the
texts, memories and artefacts of the archive; and, if only momentarily,
that life has an afterlife, a second opportunity to exert an affect upon
the world.
This session aims to critically engage with the archival encounter, the
interaction between researcher and subject, and ask questions about the
different types of identities, personalities, and personas which can
emerge through archival investigation. What types of identities are
being constructed by the researcher and in doing so what is inevitably
being left hidden? What different types of archives are being used to
construct these identities, personalities and personas? In what ways are
we implicit in the creation of identity, personality and persona
attributed to our certain subjects, indeed in what ways are our subjects
certain at all?
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Potential topics that papers could focus upon include (but are not limited
to):
· The alternative types of archives being sought out by the historical
geographer
· The different types of stories/narratives emerging from these
alternative sources
· Questions arising from the ‘incomplete’ archive and what challenges
this can pose for the historical researcher
· The role of the researcher in constructing the different identities,
personalities and personas of their chosen subjects
· The implications of absence in the archive
If you are interested in submitting a paper, please contact Cheryl
McGeachan ([log in to unmask]).The deadline for submission
of abstracts is February 3rd 2009. Please include the following
information when you submit your abstract:
Name
Affiliation
Contact email
Title of proposed paper
Abstract (no more than 250 words)
Any technical requirements (video, data projector, sound, etc.)
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