Deadline for submissions: May 31, 2017
Full name/name of organization: SAMLA 89: South Atlantic Modern Language Association’s 2017 Conference
Contact email: SRountree.PhD@gmail.com
The Politics of Memory in Contemporary U.S. Visual Culture
South Atlantic Modern Language Association’s Annual Conference
Atlanta, GA
November 3-5, 2017
This special session investigates the function of memory in U.S. visual culture, tracing political significance of remembering particular historical events in a contemporary moment. Indeed, judging by recent examples—including Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway sensation Hamilton, Theodore Melfi’s blockbuster Hidden Figures, and John Lewis’s graphic novel trilogy March; the representational backwards-gaze upon the national past seems to enact, at a minimum, influential political critique and, at a maximum potential, art-based activism. We welcome proposals for 15-minute papers that consider the political stakes of memory and remembrance in any visual artifact (broadly defined) that engages U.S. culture. “Contemporary” artifacts should originate in the 21st century, and the event(s) they recall can date from any time period. We welcome projects engaging the broader contours of national memory, individual experiences of personal memory, or any combination thereof. Uniting this panel comprised of an interdisciplinary archive will be the methodological question: What are the political stakes of remembering a specific event in national/individual history, through a particular artistic medium, at “this” specific moment in time? By May 31, 2017, please submit a 300-word abstract, brief bio, and A/V requirements to both Sascha Just, New York City College of Technology College, at saschafilm@aol.com and Stephanie Rountree, Georgia State University, at SRountree3@gsu.edu.