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CALL FOR ABSTRACTS
We welcome abstracts for the following panel which will take place during the annual meeting of the Association of Social Anthropologists on April 6-9, 2009 at the University of Bristol, UK.
Something borrowed, something new? Practices and politics of imitation
Convenors
Andrew Whitehouse (Aberdeen University) [log in to unmask]<mailto:a.whitehouse%40abdn.ac.uk?subject=ASA%202009%20Panel%20-%20Something%20borrowed%2C%20something%20new%3F%20Practices%20and%20politics%20of%20imitation>
Petra Tjitske Kalshoven (Aberdeen University) [log in to unmask]<mailto:petra.t.kalshoven%40abdn.ac.uk?subject=ASA%202009%20Panel%20-%20Something%20borrowed%2C%20something%20new%3F%20Practices%20and%20politics%20of%20imitation>
Short Abstract
This panel investigates practices and politics of imitation, focussing on its role in exploring different worlds, the contestations and ambiguities of imitation, its role in cultural transmission and transformation and its significance in anthropological and archaeological methods.
Long Abstract
This panel aims to explore the practices and politics of imitation and to consider the role that imitation plays in the ways that people explore both their own world and other worlds. Imitation is an activity through which people investigate not only their direct surroundings, embodying the actions of others, but it provides a means through which connections are made with other worlds, such as the past or the non-human. Through re-enactment and reproduction, such worlds can be remembered, remade or simply learnt about, and we invite contributions that explore the processes through which this has happened, both now and in the past. For example, what difference does it make if a reproduction is hand-crafted or mass-produced or if it is fashioned from 'traditional' materials? Imitation also raises political questions of authenticity and appropriateness, and we invite papers that explore its contestations and ambiguities. When does imitation become flattery and when is it mockery? What is the role of imitation in play and satire? Because imitation often implies emulation, it plays (or is assumed to play) a role in cultural transmission and transformation, both in contemporary societies and historically. How, then, is imitation implicated in the diffusion of materials, forms and practices? In what ways is culture imitative? How does imitation relate to creativity, originality and individuality? Finally, we also encourage contributions reflecting on imitation in anthropological and archaeological methodology. For example, participant observation implies learning actions and gestures and reproducing them, and imitation underpins archaeological practices of reconstruction.
Submission of abstracts
Papers must be submitted online at http://www.nomadit.co.uk/asa/asa09/panels.php5?PanelID=525
You need to supply a paper title, a short 300-character abstract, and a 250-word abstract.
Abstracts must be submitted by 6 February 2009.
Paper presenters need not be members of the Association of Social Anthropologists.
For general information on the conference, see http://www.theasa.org/conferences/asa09/index.htm
Thank you for forwarding this call for abstracts to other possibly interested parties!
Best regards,
Dr Petra Tjitske Kalshoven
Honorary Research Fellow (SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellowship)
Department of Anthropology, University of Aberdeen
Edward Wright Building, room G17
Aberdeen, Scotland, UK AB24 3QY
Tel: +44 (0) 1224 274508
[log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>
http://www.abdn.ac.uk/socsci/staff/details.php?id=petra.t.kalshoven
The University of Aberdeen is a charity registered in Scotland, No SC013683.
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