Call for papers - Conference "Mapping Disciplinary History: Centers, Borderlands and Shared Spaces in Folkloristic Thought"

Approaching its 90th anniversary, the Archives of Latvian Folklore (founded 1924) is organizing a conference to address the history of folkloristics, with a particular focus on the international nature of scholarship. This focus suggests a range of related questions. To what extent and in what sense can folklore studies be regarded as a shared field of knowledge? Which lines of authority have held it together and what forces have led to segmentation? How have hierarchies of intellectual centers and peripheries shifted over time? Do national or regional styles of scholarly practice exist in folkloristics? What factors have contributed to regional formations of intellectual space – common political history, geography and shared research topics, traditions of intellectual cooperation? What roles have scholarly micro-spaces – archives, institutes, museums – played? By foregrounding ‘geographies of knowledge’ (Peter Burke), we also encourage a debate on theoretical and methodological dissemination in folkloristics – its sources, centers of influence and routes. With the concept of ‘travelling theory’ (Edward Said) as a reference point, we propose to reflect upon relevant histories of border-crossing, dialogue, and transfer within and across the discipline, including strategies and outcomes of knowledge transmission (borrowing, adaptating, translating) and the attitudes and conditions that prompt acceptance or resistance. We similarly welcome attention to individual personalities, to the politics and economics of scholarship, and to forms of communication, (e.g., conferences and symposiums) as meaningful contexts for discussing the dynamics of theory and method in folklore studies. Without suggesting an exhaustive list of possible topics for the conference, we invite scholars in folklore and adjacent fields, interested in various aspects of the history of the discipline, to propose relevant papers based on their research. Please submit your proposals by March 17, 2014 (sandis.laime@lulfmi.lv). Submissions should include the name and affiliation of the participant, the paper title and an abstract (up to 300 words). Notification of acceptance will be sent shortly after March 17. Online registration for the conference starts in April. Updates are available at: www.lulfmi.lv. Do not hesitate to contact us with questions. Conference fees (covering conference materials as well as meals and refreshments): Early registration (by May 30)
Full registration fee: EUR 120
Student fee: EUR 80 After May 30
Full registration fee: EUR 150
Student fee: EUR 100

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