CFP_Within and Without: Representing Diasporas in Europe: Cardiff, 13 May 2011

Within and Without: Representing Diasporas in Europe
School of European Studies, University of Cardiff
May 13th 2011

Europe is a diasporic continent, with Belgian, British, Dutch, French, German, Irish, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish populations scattered across the globe. Yet it is also home to diasporic communities based in Europe, coming from both within and outside of the continent. The aim of this symposium is to explore the way in which diasporas in Europe are depicted in literature, film and the press, exploring the ways in which a sense of cultural and geographical dislocation inform concepts of identity, otherness and (un)belonging in the host nation. The symposium will examine the intersections between cultural, religious and pan-European identities within the diasporic community, in the destination culture and in contact zones.
Contributors are invited to address European diasporas within Europe (such as the Italian communities in Britain) and/or diasporas from outside the continent (such as the Turkish communities in Germany).

Topics may include (but are not restricted to):
- Explorations of ethnic identity in the literatures of the diaspora, and the host nation
- Depictions of 'home' in diasporic cultural production
- The shaping of cultural memory in the diaspora
- Press coverage of the diasporic culture in the host nation
- Comparison of integration of European populations within European and non-European diasporas (e.g. Italians in Germany and the U.S)
- Ghettoization and blending
- Iconography of the diaspora
- The construction of space (rural and urban, private and public, blurred boundaries)
- The diasporic gaze
- Orientalism in one continent
- Theoretical approaches to diasporic writing

The one-day symposium will take place on Friday May 13th 2011 at the School of European Studies, University of Cardiff.
There will be a fee of 15GBP, which includes lunch, tea and coffee and a wine reception.
Abstracts of 300 words, and a brief biography, should be sent to:
Dr Liz Wren-Owens (Wren-OwensEA@cardiff.ac.uk) by January 31st 2011.