Dear list members,
Please consider the following session for the 6th Intersections/Intersezioni Conference, which will take place in Florence, May 31-June 1, 2018.
BELONGING AND UNBELONGING: SPACE, IDENTITY, & IMAGINATION
It is the magic of nationalism to turn chance into destiny.
Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities
If nations are “imagined communities”, as Benedict Anderson wrote, some are more imagined than most. In the recent years, Europe has seen an upsurge in nationalism. In an era of increasing interconnectedness and globalisation, several ‘small homelands’ harbour movements claiming independence. Where does this drive for secession and self-determination come from? As Montserrat Guibernau writes in Belonging: Solidarity and Division in Modern Societies (Polity, 2013), “although Western societies are profoundly individualistic, […] there is a dimension of the individual that can only be satisfied by his or her sense of belonging to a group. This social aspect is generally fulfilled in situations within which individuality is transcended though experiences of feeling in unison with others: that is, by sharing some common interests or objectives which enable individuals to rise above their isolation and feelings of ontological insecurity.”
The aim of this panel is to discuss the intersections between place and identity that create feelings of belonging or unbelonging. What does it mean to belong to a place? In which way does space shape identity and viceversa? Is the idea of ‘cosmopolitan belonging’ a contradiction in terms? Does cosmopolitan identity require the weakening of national or local identity? What does it mean to ‘come’ from a country? Should we ask, instead of “where are you from”, “where are you a local”? Since nations are fictional realities, how do literature, philosophy, art and cinema contribute to their imagining and creation? And, how can we use literature, art, cinema literature, philosophy, art and cinema to deconstruct such realities?
I invite papers that examine the following issues:
· Nationalism and its intersection with literature, philosophy, cinema, and art
· The relationship between belonging and exclusion
· The relationship between belonging and territory
· Boundaries and group identity, ‘insiders’ and ‘outsiders’
· Space and its relationship with identity
· How literature, philosophy, cinema, and art are used to foster nationalism or to debunk its narrative and myths
· Italian nationalism in comparison with other types of nationalism
· Secessionisms within Italy and in other parts of Europe
· Italians and their different ways or feelings of belonging
I encourage applications that compare Italy with other countries, cultures or political situations.
Please contact Stefano Bellin (University College London) [log in to unmask]
Conference website: https://sites.google.com/site/intersezioni2018/home/intersections---call-for-papers
Approved sessions: https://sites.google.com/site/intersezioni2018/home/intersections---call-for-papers/2017---proposed-sessions-1