>
>From:         Peter Davies <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: CFP: Trauma Stories: Memory and Representation in the 
>Humanities and the Sciences
>
>Trauma Stories: Memory and Representation in the Humanities and the Sciences
>
>Call for papers
>Interdisciplinary conference, 2-4 September 2009, New College, 
>University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom
>
>The aim is to identify and, where necessary, question disciplinary 
>assumptions about trauma and memory and their representation in a 
>variety of subjects by encouraging cross-disciplinary exchange.
>
>Within the Humanities and Sciences there exist very diverging 
>understandings of what constitutes 'trauma' and the validity of 
>'memory'. We are interested in hearing about the different 'stories' 
>of trauma and memory that emerge in specific subjects and 
>disciplines. The concept of 'trauma stories' is thus deliberately 
>paradoxical and challenges assumptions concerning the idea that 
>trauma, as an event that is external to the individual affected by 
>it, cannot be narrated or represented in language.
>
>The idea that memories of trauma transfer from the individual to the 
>collective level has enjoyed wide currency in the Humanities 
>recently, particularly in theories concerning the inexplicability of 
>historical and natural disasters, and it is often underpinned by 
>powerful ideological claims. How do such theories harmonise with the 
>evidence from psychology and cognitive neuroscience that show 
>traumatic memories, as expressed by the individual, are often highly 
>inaccurate? One main question thus concerns the distinctive 
>'stories' that different disciplines ?tell? in order to establish a 
>traumatic object of
>enquiry.
>
>In our cross-disciplinary context, the concept of the 'story' thus 
>goes beyond the fictional tale to encompass disciplinary 
>representation generally. What do literary scholars, psychologists, 
>historians mean when they speak about 'trauma' and 'memory'?
>Where does their understanding of the object of enquiry most 
>converge / diverge?
>
>Paper proposals are welcomed which address critically the 
>representation of trauma and/or memory in a particular discipline or 
>across disciplinary boundaries, or which problematise or identify 
>controversial areas in the representation of trauma and/or memory. 
>Studies of individual authors/theorists/texts are also welcome if 
>they address the issues in question.
>
>List of disciplines (non-exhaustive):
>Literary Studies
>Cultural Studies
>Psychology
>History
>Philosophy
>Film studies
>Religious Studies
>Human Cognitive Neuroscience
>
>Please send abstracts of no more than 500 words and a 100-word bio 
>by 31 January 2009 to
>[log in to unmask] Panel proposals are also welcome.
>
>Mary Cosgrove (German Studies, University of Edinburgh)
>Peter Davies (German Studies, University of Edinburgh)
>Hannah Holtschneider (Jewish Studies, University of Edinburgh)
>Linda Tym (English Literature, University of Edinburgh)
>Kamran Rastegar (Islamic Studies, University of Edinburgh)
>
>Dr Peter Davies
>
>School of Literatures, Languages and Cultures
>University of Edinburgh
>David Hume Tower
>George Square
>Edinburgh
>EH8 9JX
>
>
>Email: [log in to unmask]
>Visit the website at http://tmredbg.wordpress.com/conference-2009/
>
>
>--
>
>
>--
>The University of Edinburgh is a charitable body, registered in
>Scotland, with registration number SC005336.

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