Hrant Dink Memorial Workshop 2015: “Genocide of the Ottoman Armenians in Art, Theater, Cinema, and Literature”
Istanbul, November 5-6, 2015
Sabancı University
in collaboration with Anadolu Kültür
and Istanbul Policy Center
Since the coinage of the term “genocide” by Raphael Lemkin and its adoption in international law in 1948, scholarship has focused predominantly on historical accounts of what happened in 1915-16, privileging the “archives” and various types of documents that serve as “proof” of the claims for genocide (or denialist claims against it). Yet, from the early years following 1915 to today, literature, art, theater and cinema (as early as Ravished Armenia in 1919) have provided crucial means for affective, historical and political reflections on this catastrophic experience. In recent years, it is possible to observe a remarkable diversification in such explorations, as well as their scholarly analyses.
This year, which marks the 100th anniversary of the genocide of the Ottoman Armenians, Hrant Dink Memorial Workshop 2015 aims to bring together scholars, artists, filmmakers and writers to reflect on the literary, artistic and cinematic responses to this event.
We welcome proposals that address such questions and issues as:
• the politics of representation and reception of the genocide of the Armenians in art, theater, film and literature,
• “canon-formation” as well as the marginalization of literary, dramatic, artistic or cinematic works on the genocide of the Armenians or the post-genocide life of the survivors,
• the relationship between the “personal” and the “public/national/political” with regard to the genocide of the Armenians and its aftermath as (re)conceptualized in theater, film, art and literature,
• gender and sexuality as theoretical frameworks in analyzing aesthetic production on the genocide of the Ottoman Armenians,
• under-represented concepts or theoretical frameworks (feminist? queer? postcolonial? critical race studies?) that promise new analytical possibilities in exploring the responses to the genocide through art, theater, film and literature,
• the impact of artistic, dramatic, literary or cinematic projects in the expansion of the space of, what author Nancy Kricorian calls, “co-resistance” across Turkey, Armenia and the Armenian Diaspora,
• generational differences reflected in the realm of post-genocide cultural production,
• the significance of the recent scholarship on memory and post-memory in analyzing aesthetic responses to the genocide of the Armenians,
• epistemological and/or ethical gains and pitfalls of analyzing the genocides of the century through comparative frameworks.
Applications:
Please send a paper abstract (max. 300 words), together with a short bio (max. 150 words), as well as your affiliation information, address, email and phone numbers to the following address: hrantdink-workshop@sabanciuniv.edu
There are limited funds for accommodation available for those participants who do not have other sources of funding to attend the workshop. When submitting your abstract, please indicate your need for an accommodation grant.
The application deadline is June 15, 2015.
Organizing Committee:
Asena Günal
Ayşe Gül Altınay
Banu Karaca
Çağla Aydın
Hülya Adak
Işık Özel
Melis Behlil
Sibel Irzık