[ecrea] CfE "Scattered Subalternities: Transnationalism, Globalization, and Power"

Cinéma & Cie. - International Film Studies Journal

www.cinemaetcie.net<http://www.cinemaetcie.net>

SPECIAL ISSUE NO. 27

Scattered Subalternities: Transnationalism, Globalization, and Power

Edited by Ilaria A. De Pascalis, Judith Keilbach and Maria Francesca Piredda

Deadline for abstract proposal: April 30, 2016

Since its worldwide diffusion in the 1980s, postcolonial theory has 
questioned the problematic location of subalternity in cultural products 
and in the materiality of everyday life vis-à-vis the position reserved 
for the hegemonic subject – described as coherent, uniform, 
auto-determined, Western, individualistic, efficient, and so on. Despite 
its continued actuality and urgency, however, the figure of the 
Other/Subaltern has largely disappeared as a central concern from public 
discourse of the last few years. In the meantime, discussions of 
subalternity have fragmented and scattered across various academic 
disciplines, art projects, and (sub)cultural practices.

This special issue of Cinéma&Cie aims at picking up and tying together 
these now far-flung discussions to reconsider the location of the 
Other/Subaltern within the contemporary world. It seeks to address a 
number of fundamental questions: Who is the Other/Subaltern in the 
global frame? Is the Other/Subaltern entitled to agency? How is s/he 
related to her/his communities? What aspects contribute to the 
configuration of the Other/Subaltern, and are there current changes that 
affect the concept of the Other/Subaltern? To discuss these questions we 
invite contributions that deal with theoretical as well as artistic 
reflections on and media representations of subalternity and alterity.

The world produced by globalization is not a homogeneous and neutral 
space opened to individual action, but is made of interactive networks. 
These grids and currents continuously overlap with one another, are 
produced through an asymmetric distribution of power, and give different 
access to different subjects (S. Sassen). Nation-states are not weakened 
by this dynamic; to the contrary, the global flows often confer new 
strength upon them. Moreover, the states now emerge as “fortresses”; 
their interactions and tensions thus require a properly transnational 
approach to be read (Ch.T. Mohanty).

However, the defined borders of the hegemonic positions must confront 
the possibilities opened by identity models and cultural contents 
gaining a new power; in such a scenario, the forms of creative 
acquisition and artistic production of the Other/Subaltern become part 
of popular and public discourses. The contemporary metropolis can be 
specifically read as a laboratory for the multiplicity of cultural 
production in the global world; for instance, the diasporic subjects 
relocate themselves in the urban tissue, creating new networks of 
influence and exchange. In this sense, they can even reconfigure their 
“culture of origin” through an orthodox lens, generating a “fanatic” 
narrative of themselves (A. Appadurai).

The special issue will consider the role of the postcolonial theoretical 
framework and the eventuality of a reflection on neocolonialism as still 
efficacious, if not essential, tools to interpret the contemporary 
world. Contributors are therefore invited to take into consideration 
theoretical issues as well as specific case studies related (but not 
limited) to these themes:

  *   The necessity of remapping the positions of Subalternity and/or 
Alterity beyond the traditional reflections of anthropology and older 
postcolonial theories (e.g., the need for a renewal of Gramsci’s 
dialectic between hegemonic and subaltern positions, considering their 
political implications for the global scenario; or the new focus toward 
the unconscious as site of subversion in relation to the uncontrollable 
proliferation of phantoms, phantasies, and desires and the role 
attributed to jouissance in neoliberalism).

  *   The new models of configuration for subalternity and alterity, 
open to multi-sensorial and synesthetic dimensions of contemporary 
cultural expression.

  *   The configuration of subalternity and alterity by media 
narratives and by ideas of identity and (the impossibility of) 
belonging, addressing both media products included within or excluded 
from the entertainment industries.

  *   The relationship between dislocation and media devices and practices.

  *   The forms of cultural and artistic (self-)production generated by 
subaltern subjects in relation to both the hegemonic industrial system 
and the tradition of independent production.

  *   The mainstream configurations of subalternity and alterity 
produced by hegemonic cultural industries, with particular attention to 
the representation politics of global conglomerates.

Submission details


Contributors can send their abstract (300-500 words, 5 keywords, and 5 
bibliographical references) and a short biographical note (150 words) to 
(submission.cinemaetcie /at/ gmail.com)<mailto:(submission.cinemaetcie /at/ gmail.com)> and 
(ilaria.depascalis2 /at/ unibo.it)<mailto:(ilaria.depascalis2 /at/ unibo.it)> by April 
30, 2016. All notifications of acceptance will be sent no later than 
June 1, 2016. If accepted, 4,000 word essay will then be required for 
peer review by September 1, 2016.

For more information:

http://cinemaetcie.net/2016/01/27/cfe27/

5x1000 AI GIOVANI RICERCATORI
DELL'UNIVERSITÀ DI BOLOGNA
Codice Fiscale: 80007010376


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