Call for papers: Cult of Heroes in Central Europe from the 1880s to the Second World War – Transnational and Transdisciplinary Aspects

Place: University of Paris-Sorbonne – Paris.

Date:  Friday 25 and Saturday 26 November 2011.

Deadline for applications: 15/03/2011.

Languages of the conference: English and French.

 Organizers:

-          CIRCE/CRECOB – Centre of Interdisciplinary Research on Central Europe within the Research Centre on Central, Eastern and Balkanic Europe of the Paris-Sorbonne University (Paris IV).

 -          Department of Gender Studies and Department of History of the CEU – Central European University (Budapest), in cooperation with Pasts Inc., Center for Historical Studies.

 -          Institute of Polish Culture of the University of Warsaw.

 -          Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (Bratislava).

 Scientific committee: Eszter Balázs – University Kodolanyi Janos; Xavier Galmiche – CIRCE/ Paris-Sorbonne University; Paul Gradvohl – University of Nancy 2/CERCLE; Constantin Iordachi – Department of History of the CEU and Pasts Inc., Center for Historical Studies; Daniela Kodajová – Institute of History of the Slovak Academy of Sciences; Michel Masłowski – CIRCE/ Paris-Sorbonne University; Andrea Pető – Gender studies department, CEU; Paweł Rodak – Institute of Polish Culture of the University of Warsaw; Clara Royer – CIRCE/ Paris-Sorbonne University; Balázs Trencsényi – Department of History of the CEU and Pasts Inc., Center for Historical Studies.

This conference is the second event of an trans-disciplinary comparative research project on the cult of heroes in Central Europe. The first conference, titled “Cult of heroes in Central Europe from the 1880s to the IIWW – Practices and Representations”, took place in Budapest on 12-13 November 2010. The conference assessed some heroic/outcast figures and social practices in Central Europe, as well as some of the many ways in which these figures have been canonized, manipulated, questioned or subverted. (For more details, see CEU’s webpage, http://www.ceu.hu/node/18985 or in French, the CIRCE’s webpage, http://www.circe.paris-sorbonne.fr/index.php?option=com_content&view=art...). In the continuation of this research agenda, the second conference aims at exploring the transnational and trans-disciplinary aspects on the topic. Together, the two events will thus enable contributors to appraise, among others, forms and forums through which such heroic cults were elaborated and developed. The choice of the time interval under scrutiny, running from the 1880s to the Second World War, is propelled by the need to confront paradigmatic Romantic patterns with the new values of emerging modern mass societies.

After Thomas Carlyle’s 1841 prominent essay (On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History), the cult of heroes was first approached by the psychoanalytic enquiry (Otto Rank), followed by anthropological research (Stefan Czamowski on the political efficiency of the cult of heroes) and political studies (through Weber’s notion of charisma). But such cults were for a much longer time spread by literature, arts, monuments and specific rituals. More recently, different traditions can be considered, from Pierre Nora’s lieux de memoire theory to the various schools of historical myth-research, from intellectual history to historical anthropology, not to mention the appraisals by literary theory and art history.

The conference will explore conceptual notions of heroes (vs saint, martyr, or “great man” for instance), and will address the differences between heroic narratives and myth-making. As recalled by French researcher Daniel Fabre, modern heroes are constantly being appraised and questioned, their heroic aura never steady, submitted as they are to epideictic rhetoric, whether laudatory or disparaging. Even if singularized, the values they embodied and ways in which they are worshipped, whether institutionalized or not, heroes point to a collectivity, who identifies with them.

 The papers will be selected in view of their interdisciplinary and/or transnational dimensions. We will prioritize contributions which employ a interdisciplinary methodology – combining history, anthropology, sociology, literature, and history of art. In addition, forms of cults of heroes will be given a special stress – public and popular commemorations (such as Mickiewicz’s famous reburial), social rituals, scientific publications for the general public, monuments (such as the Heroes square in Budapest), history textbooks and school programs, media and mass culture (cinema…) as well as literary and artistic creations of the time (from opera to novels and from monuments to caricatures, etc.). Such figures as Hungarian Zrínyi Miklós/ Croatian Nikola Zrinski may become common heroes, but the canonization can depend on political circumstances. The conference aims at revealing some dissimilarities and points of encounter between them, through papers addressing various cultures and societies of Central Europe (Polish, Czech, Slovak and Hungarian, and the cultures of the so-called “nationalities” and “minorities” – Jewish, Roma, German, Croatian, and so forth). Another interesting aspect is the forums of heroic cults (lieux de mémoire, sites). What are the categories which are constructing the proper hero? Who are they worshipped by and along which lines (gender, social, generational, national, minority/majority?). What are the conditions of heroes re-memorations?

The conference will take place at the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris). The first morning will be devoted to a theoretical keynote speech, which will partly resume the temporary conclusions of the first conference in Budapest. The lecture will be followed by a methodological and theoretical roundtable. Papers will be delivered on the afternoon and following day.

 Please send a 300 word abstract and a brief CV (5 publications max.) in a single Word document to:

 Clara Royer (CIRCE-Paris Sorbonne) : clararoyer@gmail.com

 Confirmation of receipt will be sent via email within seven days. If you do not receive a confirmation within this time frame, please re-send your abstract.

 There will be no registration fee. Travel and accommodation expenses up to a limited amount will be covered by the organizers of the conference. Information regarding accommodation in Paris will be sent along with notification of acceptance.