Call for Contributions
Processes, narratives, practices and politics of remembering
Deadline for submissions: March 15th, 2023
Processes, narratives, practices, and politics of remembering are the focus of issue 02/23 of the journal “kuckuck. Notizen zur Alltagskultur”, which will be published at the end of 2023 under the title memories.
Since always, memories have been a much-discussed topic, causing polemics and passionate debates in the media, in politics, and in academia. However, although the current “presence” of memories is obvious, it remains controversial how to understand remembering or memory(s) in a plural society. The current debate discusses concepts that see plurality as the starting point of memory culture(s), such as Daniel Levy’s and Nathan Sznaider’s cosmopolitan memory, Michael Rothberg’s multidirectional memory, or most recently Max Czollek’s manifesto of pluralistic memory. Common to all of them is the idea that a universalist view is not necessary, but a perspective that starts from shared (intersecting experiences) and interrelated narratives. The focus on the plural and dynamic character of processes of remembering and forgetting shows that in this way not only nations, group identities and thus conflicts are (re)produced, but that these can also contribute to solidarizations between different groupings and generations. Remembering and forgetting are mutually dependent and, like the tension between marginalized and hegemonic memories, are constitutive for negotiating the past and questioning past and present injustices.
This issue aims to address the (practical) transfer of knowledge and experience within the thematic field of memory culture(s) from a pluriversal perspective. There are no geographical or temporal restrictions. We are looking forward to a thematization of diverse memories from different fields as well as a reflection of theoretical and methodological approaches within Memory Studies. The following questions could be explored, among others:
- To what extent does a multidirectional or pluralistic memory produce new versions of justice?
- How does remembering show itself as acting in solidarity across diverse protagonists and generations?
- Who shapes the narratives, and how do social groups interact when their identity is based on the memory of different events or on different memories of the same events?
- How are memories used by political movements to support their demands?
- How is remembering manifested as a social practice?
- What role do art, literature, popular culture, and media play in these processes?
- How can ambivalences and tensions between individual experiences and official representations of history be captured in everyday life?
- …?
Timeline and Procedure:
They are open to receive abstracts, ideas, and proposals for scholarly, activist and/or artistic contributions, as well as a brief biography of the contributor(s) by March 15, 2023 to the following email addresses: sarah.nimfuehr@kunstuni-linz.at , christina.sternisa@edu.uni-graz.at , and barbara.frischling@outlook.at .
Contributions should be no longer than 25,000 characters, including all references, and will go through a collaborative review process by the publisher and editorial staff of KUCKUCK.
Further information for authors of academic or essayistic contributions here.