aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] FW: Eurovision conference Athens 2/29-3/2 2008

["Chernetsky, Vitaly A. Dr." <chernev@muohio.edu>]

Dear Colleagues,
FYI.

Best,
VC

________________________________________
From: H-Net Discussion Network on Postsocialist Studies [H-SOYUZ@H-NET.MSU.EDU]
Sent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 9:16 AM
Subject: Eurovision conference Athens 2/29-3/2 2008

From: "Penelope C. Papailias" <nyni@hol.gr>

CALL FOR PAPERS

Singing Europe:
Spectacle and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest

Friday, February 29th – Sunday, March 2nd, 2008
Athens, Greece

Organized by:
Dept. of History, Archaeology, Social Anthropology, University of Thessaly
and the Benaki Museum.

Beyond a musical happening which appears to ‘unite European people’ via
music, the Eurovision song contest, both as a spectacle and as a
performative event, allegorically represents the idea of ‘Europe’. Ever
since its early years, the contest has become a symbolic realm for
performing European identities and re-making European selves. Singing and
dancing Europe enacts an interplay of tropes of being local and/or
European, while providing an arena for old and new states to imagine their
pasts, portray their presents and envision futures. The politics of
representation in Eurovision (from the 1960s up to today) may be
understood, therefore, in the light of the broader geo-political changes,
cultural anxieties and power games defining Europe and the world.

The conference invites discussion of the following topics (both in
historical and contemporary perspectives):
•       The contest as a media event (radio broadcasting, press reports, TV
shows, websites). New media, interactivity, tele-voting.
•       Euro-song and technoculture. Music technology, composition,
instrumentation and performance.
•       The economy of the ‘big event’. Host countries, sponsors and the
promotion of tourism.
•       Euro-vision and tele-reality. Post-war Europe and the culture of
televised phantasmagorias.
•       Eurovision’s past and cultural politics in post-war Europe.
•       Singing ‘democracy’. Post-communist Europe and the ‘new’ candidates.
•       Diaspora, patriotism and ‘the song of my country’.
•       The politics of language. Local languages, ‘dominant’ languages and
Europeaness in song lyrics.
•       The making of a music ‘star’. Image-making, fan cultures and the
mythology of celebrities.
•       Engendered ‘stars’. Body and sexuality in dance and music performances.
•       Feeling the contest. Emotions and the media environment.
•       ‘Re-invented’ traditions. ‘Ethnic’ music and the negotiation of European
otherness.
•       Pan-european musics. Pop and rock as cosmopolitan music styles.

This 3-day conference is organized by the Department of History,
Archaeology and Social Anthropology of the University of Thessaly (Volos,
Greece) in association with the Benaki Museum (Pireos Street Annex, 138
Pireos Street & Andronikou).

Submission of abstracts (up to 300 words) by September 15th, 2007 to
daphnetr@otenet.gr. Author’s full name and institutional affiliation
should be included. Notification of acceptance by mid-October 2007.

Further information at http://extras.ha.uth.gr/eurovision/

The conference committee:

Mitsos Bilalis (University of Thessaly)
Eleftheria Deltsou (University of Thessaly)
Sophia Handaka (Benaki Museum)
Penelope Papailias (University of Thessaly)
Dafni Tragaki (University of Thessaly)