CFP: A Place Called Home: Migration, Diaspora and Transnational Identi
A one day conference hosted by the Department of English at St. Patrick’s College, Dublin City University exploring the nature of home, belonging, exclusion, movement and identity in literature and beyond.
Date: Friday 19th February 2016
Venue: St Patrick’s College, Drumcondra, A College of Dublin City University
Confirmed Keynote Speakers: Professor Michael Cronin (Dublin City University); Dr Liam Harte (University of Manchester); Dr Tony Murray (London Metropolitan University)
Overview
Home as an ontological concept has undergone a process of transmutation, taking on a quality of fluidity and instability. Post-colonial writers create conceptual homelands, free of the legacy of colonialism and the instability that arises when one’s national identity is threatened or compromised, unshackled from any restraint which may curtail or limit one’s liberty or sense of identity. Should home be considered a construct of the literary imagination, bearing little, if any, resemblance to the lived reality? Do we need works of literature to conceptualise and give shape to our experience of home? What is the nature of the relationship between life-writing and representations of home and national identity? This conference seeks to explore the nature and significance of home in post-colonial literature, both in an Irish and an international context.
The scope of the conference is intentionally broad in an endeavour to approach the notion of home from novel and diverse perspectives. Therefore, submissions from scholars in all disciplines are actively encouraged. Papers from the field of political science, cultural studies, and history that engage with the concepts of home, belonging and exclusion are warmly welcome.
Papers are welcome on any aspect of this topic and could also include discussion arising from the following:
- Diasporic Literature: Literary Constructions of Home and Belonging
- Transnational Narratives
- Memoir: Writing the Self, Writing the Nation
- Dislocations: Home Beyond Boundaries
- Migration, Marginality and Liminality
- Psychogeographical Engagements
- ‘Irishness’ At Home and Away: The ‘New Irish’ and the Irish Abroad
Format: Individual or group academic papers of 20 minute duration organised by theme into panels of three or four presentations.
Please send abstracts of 300 words with a brief biographical note to rebecca.darcy2@dcu.ie
Deadline for receipt of abstracts is 15th November 2015
Conference Registration Fee: €25.00