[Dino] Book Culture from Below (Helsinki, 17-21 August 2010)

[paqvalen at mappi.helsinki.fi]

CALL FOR PAPERS


Book Culture from Below – The Eighteenth Annual Conference of the  
Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP).  
The conference will take place in Helsinki, 17-21 August 2010.


The conference theme Book Culture from Below emphasizes the book  
culture of peasants, the laboring classes and other under-represented  
and oppressed groups, especially their independence and initiative in  
creating, using and deciphering printed works and print culture. In  
keeping with the SHARP spirit, we welcome proposals on all aspects of  
book history, but especially those that address issues and questions  
related to the conference theme, for example:

    * How can the ”from below” perspective be applied to book history?
      How does this perspective intersect with class, race, gender and
      ideology?
    * Who are the readers, writers, publishers and distributors ”from
      below”? Which forms of authorship and educational practices have
      been available to them?
    * How can differences and interactions among educated, autodidactic
      and uneducated readers, writers and publishers be conceptualized?
    * How can the various forms of literacy and illiteracy be recognized
      and analyzed?
    * Which kinds of writings and publications are relevant for studying
      book culture from below? Which bibliographical and book history
      methods and approaches can we use to study them?
    * How can the complex interaction between folklore and book culture,
      orality and literacy be re-evaluated? What are the functions of
      the manuscript medium in relation to the oral and the printed media?
    * What are the intersections of subaltern and post-colonial studies
      with book history?
    * In which ways does the ”from below”-perspective challenge
      hegemonic national histories? What are the possibilities of
      transnational studies in this field?

We invite not only researchers of print culture but also those  
studying manuscripts (whether medieval or modern era) to the conference.


    Proposals

The conference is open to both individual presentations and complete  
panel proposals (including three speakers and a chairperson). Each  
speaker will be given 20 minutes for the presentation and 10 minutes  
for discussion. All sessions will last 90 minutes. The proposals  
should be sent in English, which is the main language of the conference.

Proposals can be sent only by using the proposal form  
<https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/17197/lomake.html>. The  
official on-line submission process has been opened on 15 September  
2009. The deadline for submissions is 30 November 2009. No proposals  
will be considered after the deadline.

Participants must be members of SHARP in order to present at the  
conference. It is the responsibility of presenters to ensure that they  
are members by the time of the registration. For information on  
membership, please visit the SHARP website at www.sharpweb.org.


    Travel grants

SHARP is able to provide a limited number of travel grants to graduate  
students and independent scholars. If you wish to be considered for  
such a grant, please state this when submitting your proposal.


    Contact addresses

For more information, please visit the conference’s website at
www.helsinki.fi/sharp2010 <http://www.helsinki.fi/sharp2010>

The conference website and information can also be found via
www.sharpweb.org <http://www.sharpweb.org>

Inquiries concerning the conference should be sent to
sharp-2010 (at) helsinki.fi



----- Slut på vidarebefordrat meddelande -----