In the early periods of modernity the concept of communal living was determined, and thus, enclosed, by the imagined community of the nation. The nation itself was defined here as a territory, a conception that circumscribed the collective identity within spatial borders. Such a paradigm naturalized separation from the outside and limited the possibility of exchange and dialogue. The contemporary period, however, is associated with the paradigm of the transnational and the transcultural. Social processes of globalization further the deconstruction of spatial borders and territories. Within these transformations paradox notions of living together may develop. You do not have to live in the same place to live together. One the other hand, existence in the same place does not necessarily signify living together.
Exploring the Americas through critical lenses that focus the intersections between transnational, intercultural and intracultural processes, the conference pursues a scholarly investigation into dynamics and tensions characterizing processes of cultural encounter, difference, and exchange in the Americas in a relational and inter-American way. Inter-American here refers to a transcultural imaginary that suggests multiple interdependencies and hence requires dialogic models of investigation.
Papers should address:
*theories of transnational and inter-American studies
*methodologies of how to study and teach transnational and inter-American studies
*case studies of literary, linguistic, aesthetic, cultural, historical, social aspects within the Americas
*the Americas in a hemispheric perspective: transatlantic, transpacific relations
*border discourses in theory, literature, film, music
*production, distribution and reception of American cultures (inside and outside perspectives)
The conference wants to support and present the work of young scholars in particular and invites doctoral students to submit proposals.
The conference languages will be English and Spanish. Selected papers may be published in fiar Forum for Inter-American Research, the official journal of the International Association of Inter-American Studies.