17. Conférence Partenariat

Wor(l)ds of Trauma: Canadian and German Perspectives
17. Conférence de Partenariat des Universités de Trèves et Manitoba
11-14 Mai 2016; Chambres des invités de l'Université de Trèves

 

Call for Papers

With ”trauma”, the upcoming partnership conference of the University of Trier and the University of Manitoba will explore a topic which has received wide attention in the academic world during the past years, adding a comparative German and Canadian voice to scholarly debates on this important theme.

It is not surprising that scholars have been discussing ”trauma” intensively during the past decades, considering that (collective) experiences of traumatization have not ceased in the 20th or the 21st century. On a global scale, the Holocaust or Hiroshima and Nagasaki still serve as reminders and symbols of large-scale destruction and human suffering. Both globally and locally, conflicts based on (religious) intolerance, poverty, the effects of enforced migration, or the treatment of unwelcomed refugees by racialized and class-conscious societies continue to contribute to narratives which reveal the dark sides of humanity. At the same time, there has been a growing focus on the physical and mental consequences of traumatic events on people.

This partnership conference centers around various problems and challenges that have received widespread attention, such as the treatment of First Nations, Métis and Inuit in Canada or the Sinti and Roma in Germany, endangered languages and language death, cultural genocide, deportation, family destruction, physical and mental abuse by educational, state and church institutions. The forceful relocation of Canada’s Japanese population after the attack on Pearl Harbor or the rejection of immigrants from Punjab in Vancouver, also known as the Komagata Maru incident, serve as further historical examples that tell stories of victimization and suffering.

The conference convenors would like to invite papers both in English and French which contribute to the general theme of “trauma“ by not only looking at physical-psychological phenomena and personal as well as collective forms of suffering, but also at socio-cultural attempts for remedy.

We warmly invite both junior and senior scholars to respond to this call for papers, and more than welcome a comparative, if not cross-hermeneutic approach, so that both a Canadian and German perspective on the problems at stake are generated.

Preferably, case studies should focus on Canadian and German issues. However, papers with a theoretical orientation that exceed this geographical realm are equally appreciated.

Since this conference is interdisciplinary in scope, it should include contributions from the social and political sciences, medical studies, pedagogy, history, law, native studies, literature and linguistics, cultural, media and visual studies.

The preliminary programme of the conference can be downloaded here.