CFP: Revolution/Evolution/Involution in Twentieth- and Twenty-first-Century Ireland

Call for Papers, Other Conferences

Universidad Zaragozaceltic knot

 

 

 

XV INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF

THE SPANISH ASSOCIATION FOR IRISH STUDIES

“Revolution/Evolution/Involution in

Twentieth- and Twenty-first-Century Ireland”

26-28 May

University of Zaragoza

With the spur of the American and French revolutions, nineteenth century philosophers established the conceptual bases for different revolutions worldwide that were to shake the twentieth century: Ireland, Russia, China, Cuba and a host of anticolonial insurgent movements. Both Hegel and Marx were key actors in the process of defining the concept of revolution, albeit differently. Yet both of them considered the revolutionary idea as an irresistible change, whether the manifestation of the world spirit (Hegel) or the product of historical forces (Marx). Hegel’s and Marx’s ideas on revolution, a reality brought about by overpowering energies, seemed to downplay the role and intentions of the revolutionaries, and this fact configures a paradigm that does not fit well with the heroic pantheon of the Irish Revolution. But, was there an Irish Revolution?

In one of the first books on Irish cultural politics (David Cairns and Shaun Richards, Writing Ireland: Colonialism, nationalism and culture. Manchester: Manchester UP, 1988), there is a chapter entitled “Revolutions are what happen to wheels”, an idea the authors borrowed from David Fitzpatrick. That is, a revolution can cause a tremendous upheaval and finally perform a 360º movement coming full circle to the initial point. So, what is the aim of such revolution, and was the Irish case exemplary of this revolving motion? Was it an involution rather than a revolution? Should a revolution upturn the political, the social and the economic status quo? Should it be supported massively by the population?

2016 being the centenary of the Easter Rising, this year’s AEDEI Conference has wanted to join other conferences, symposiums and publications on this famous rebellion to inquire not just into this singular event but into the revolutionary decade (1913-1923) in general. The focus will then partly fall on the political, social, economic, etc. episodes of the period and all their possible connections and implications.

Nevertheless, from a less political and more sociological standpoint, “a revolution” also refers to a wide-reaching and radical change in conditions, lifestyles, beliefs, attitudes, etc. That is why we can talk of the “devotional revolution” in Ireland (1850-1975), the western “sexual revolution” of the late 1960s and so on. It is in this sense that the Conference will also accommodate the transformation of Ireland after political independence. Can we talk about revolution/s, or rather of a sustained evolution? Have there been examples of involution?

For both sections of the Conference we welcome proposals coming from varied academic disciplines (Literature, Media and Film Studies, History, Sociology, Political Science, etc.) and theoretical approaches (Cultural Studies, Cultural Materialism, Postcolonial Theory, Queer Theory, Feminisms and Post-feminisms, etc.).

As regards the Irish Revolution (1913-1923), contributions may revolve, although not exclusively, around the following themes:

  •  Women and men of the Irish Revolution
  • Historiography of the Irish Revolution
  • Representations (literature, music, film, journalism, visual media, painting, etc.) of the Irish Revolution
  • Commemoration and the Irish Revolution
  • International impact of the Irish Revolution
  • Ulster and the Irish Revolution
  • The Irish Citizen Army vs the Irish Volunteers
  • The revolution in rural Ireland
  • Revolutionaries vs rebels

As regards the more general issue of other sociological revolutions/evolutions/involutions in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Ireland, topics may include, but are not limited to:

  •  Ireland and Modernity
  • The Irish Free State as a failed state
  • The backlash of the 1980s
  • The rhetoric of violence
  • The ethics of violence
  • Revolution and gender
  • The impact on Ireland of the counter-cultural and sexual revolutions of the late 1960s
  • Celtic Tiger Ireland: Revolution, evolution or involution?
  • Post-Celtic Tiger Ireland: And now what?

 Submission requirements and deadline:

Abstracts of 300 words for twenty-minute papers should be sent to crio@unizar.es by 10 February 2016. Proposals for panels, roundtables and workshops will also be welcome. Author/s information is to be provided on a separate sheet, including name, affiliation, contact address, paper title and author’s bio-note.

 

Scientific Committee:

Asier Altuna García de Salazar (Universidad de Deusto)

Ruth Barton (Trinity College Dublin)

Terence Brown (Trinity College Dublin)

Teresa Caneda (Universidad de Vigo)

Rui Carvalho Homem (Universidade do Porto)

Seán Crosson (National University of Ireland, Galway)

José Francisco Fernández (Universidad de Almería)

Luz Mar González Arias (Universidad de Oviedo)

Rosa González Casademont (Universidad de Barcelona)

Liam Harte (Manchester University)

María Elena Jaime de Pablos (Universidad de Almería)

Margaret Kelleher (University College Dublin)

David Lloyd (University of California, Riverside)

Marisol Morales Ladrón (Universidad de Alcalá)

Munira Mutran (Universidade de Sao Paulo)

Juan Ignacio Oliva Cruz (Universidad de La Laguna)

Mª Auxiliadora Pérez Vides (Universidad de Huelva)

Inés Praga Terente (Universidad de Burgos)

Stephanie Schweter (Université de Valenciennes)

Gerry Smyth (Liverpool John Moores University)

Tony Tracy (National University of Ireland, Galway)

Pilar Villar Argáiz (Universidad de Granada)

 

Organising Committee:

Jose María Yebra, Sara Martín Ruiz, Lucía Morera and Ekaterina Mawlikaeva.

 

Conference Organiser:

Constanza del Río