for a workshop titled COMMON ISSUES AND RECENT TRENDS IN BALKAN HISTORIOGRAPHY I: Towards a Comparative Review of Awakening/Renaissan ce Discourse, between 02 and 04 July 2010 in Istanbul, organized by EHESS (Paris), Istanbul Bilgi University and IFEA (Istanbul).
As a common metaphor in Balkan historiography the terms renaissance/ rebirth and awakening – with counterparts in different languages of the region – are widely used in a rather problematic way; the terms simultaneously mean both the rebirth (renaissance) or awakening of the (primordial) ever-existing 'nation' dormant for many centuries, and Enlightenment in the framework of modernization or more precisely 'Westernization'.
The double-edged character of the concepts of rebirth and awakening have always existed in the historiographies of nation states in general: the “Enlightenment” aspect implied by the term refers to a process of eliminating traditional values seen as counterpoised to 'modern' ones. However, the essentialist understanding of a dormant nation constructs the main adhesive elements out of traditional values - albeit usually in a romanticized and often distorted or invented form.
In this workshop, which is scheduled as the first one in a series of workshops bringing historians from the Balkans together every year to discuss a common issue and recent developments in the historiography, young scholars from different Balkan countries will meet for three days to discuss the place of this 'awakening' discourse in the historiography of each country while depicting the institutional and structural framework and recent (especially revisionist) trends.
A more specific, geographical- thematic, focus of this year's workshop will be the 'Albanian renaissance' (Rilindja). In this framework, the participants are expected to read papers on
1. Rilindja in the (socialist and post-socialist) historiography in Albania and Kosovo, and/or
2. the place of Albanian Rilindja in the historiography of the other (especially neighboring) Balkan countries, and/or
3. comparison of the place of Rilindija in one country with the 'awakening' discourse of that country,
4. study of the awakening/rebirth discourse in any individual Balkan country, and
5. comparative studies of awakening discourses in different Balkan countries.
The papers, which can then be revised after the workshop in accordance with the discussions and feedback, are planned to be published as a collected volume of essays.
The conference organizers will cover the travel and accommodation costs for participants.
To apply for this workshop please send an abstract (max. 250 words) and a brief CV both to bbilmez@bilgi. edu.tr and Nathalie.Clayer@ ehess.fr.The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 15 May 2010. The authors of selected papers will be informed by 23 May 2010.
Nathalie Clayer (EHESS, Paris)
Bülent Bilmez (Istanbul Bilgi University, History Department)
Please quote 10 Academic Resources Daily in your application to this opportunity!
