Workshop - Debating the Histories of Yugoslav and Post-Yugoslav Literature, 24-25 June 2017, University of Nottingham, UK

Debating the Histories of Yugoslav
and Post-Yugoslav Literature(s)
Workshop organized by the Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies, University of Nottingham, UK, to be held 24 and 25 June 2017.

Workshop aims

The workshop is intended as a forum for the preparation of a volume of essays on debates arising from the history of Yugoslav literature(s) in the 20th century, and on ways in which those issues are revised and reformulated in the post-Yugoslav cultural space. Participants will engage together to produce a collection of essays as a coherent response to these issues.

Background

Since Pavle Popović's 1918 book Jugoslovenska književnost, there have been many discussions on Yugoslav literature(s): is the term viable; should it be in the singular (as Yugoslav literature) or in the plural (as Yugoslav literatures); is it the equivalent of a national or a supra-national form? Following new thinking in comparative literature, postcolonial studies and gender studies, is post-Yugoslav cultural studies able to offer fresh insights into these questions?

Theoretical and empirical approaches

Participants may focus on theoretical or empirical concerns:

• methodological concerns about the national category of literature
• literary history as a nation-building or state-building enterprise
• the links/divisions between different Yugoslav literatures
• ideological implications of Yugoslav literature or Yugoslav literatures
• new approaches to understanding the category of Yugoslav culture in the age of post-Yugoslav studies
• the mechanisms for promoting/weakening a sense of Yugoslav literature in government and economic activity (writers' associations, publishing policies, the book trade, educational policies, school textbooks, translation between regional languages)

This is not a definitive list nor a limit on the range of questions relevant to the workshop, but an indication of the range of possible issues.

Workshop organization

Scholars wishing to take part in this project are asked to email two attachments: a short CV (2 pages max) and a brief outline of the topic they would wish to contribute (300 words max) by 10 April 2017. Contributions are to be in English and the final volume will be published in English. Please send to Dr David A. Norris at the University of Nottingham (david.norris@nottingham.ac.uk). Participants will give a short paper at the workshop outlining their area of interest in these questions.

Accommodation and meals for those attending the workshop will be paid by the Department of Russian and Slavonic Studies. The Department can also offer a limited number of travel bursaries toward the cost of travel to Nottingham.