[ecrea] CfP for the Panel: Identity in the Visual at Euroacademia International Conference

Call for Papers for the Panel:
Identity in the Visual

As part of the 7th Euroacademia International Conference
‘The European Union and the Politicization of Europe’
Bruges, Belgium, 25 - 26 January 2019

Deadline: 10th of December 2018

Panel Organizer: Daniela Chalániová (Anglo-American University, Prague)

Panel Description:
Ever since the so called ‘linguistic turn’ in the 1970s, majority of 
research on identity in political and social sciences has been focused 
on language and text - as language has been considered the primary  tool 
for meaning formation, and ideas exchange. Today, we are twenty  years 
from a digital revolution of the 1990s, which on the one hand,  made 
communication faster, more efficient and more global, on the  other hand 
made the linguistic exchange just one of many  possibilities. While 
arguably some visual elements such as symbols and  flags have been 
recognized as important for collective identification,  the impact of 
journalist, fashion and travel photography, films, comic  books and 
documentaries, billboards and brands, sports and arts has  largely been 
neglected by mainstream political science scholars, who  viewed images 
as something rather suspicious. However, with increasing  interest in 
the visual/aesthetic aspects of political and social life  (the so 
called ‘visual/aesthetic turn’ of the late 1990s) it is only  logical to 
take a hard look at identity beyond language, that is, from  an 
interdisciplinary visual perspective.

Images, just like words, are able to communicate norms, meanings and 
values, they polarize as well as unite communities, identify who is 
‘in’ and who is ‘out’. Images communicate meanings through logic of 
association, rather than logic of argumentation as texts often do, 
appealing to our emotional rather than logical cognition. Images 
trigger the unconscious processes of stereotyping and value judgments 
associated with them, effectively constructing affiliation or 
differentiation, a Self and the Other, with behavioural consequences. 
Therefore, analysis of visual material in connection to identity  should 
occupy a more prominent place among identity scholars.  Political and 
social science, however, lacks in tools of visual  analysis, therefore 
it needs to broaden its scope into other  disciplines such as 
communication studies, artsand history, cultural  studies, media 
studies, theatre, iconography, semiotics, marketing and  advertising, 
public relations, fashion, photography, cinematography,  etc.

Thus, this panel aims at a more inclusive interdisciplinary approach  to 
identity building, especially in terms of the empirical scope. The  goal 
is to collect empirical as well as theoretical and methodological 
papers on political and social identity, focused on visual aspects of 
identity construction.

Suggested topics may include/but are not limited to these:
~ Film and Visual Identity
~ Role of images in multilingual collectivities’ identity construction
~ Role of images in multicultural/multinational collectivities’ 
identity construction
~ Role of sports as visual performance in identity narratives
~ Emotional appeal of images, symbols and representations
~ American presidential election and the public ‘image’ of the candidates
~ Presidential election and the public ‘image’ of the candidates
~ Constructing the democrats/the republicans in the media
~ Political branding and electoral campaigns
~ Media campaigns of the European Parliament
~ Statues and monuments of national identity
~ Treatment of minorities in films – visualizing the Other
~ National cinema and national identity
~ Images of patriotism
~ Fashion statement as a declaration of belonging
~ Folk costumes and clothing in contemporary national identity narratives
~ Visualizing the gender

While the papers suggested here approach identity from a 
social-constructivist perspective, other approaches and criticisms are 
welcome.

For complete information before applying see full details of the 
conference at:
http://euroacademia.eu/conference/7eupe/

You can apply on-line by completing the Application Form on the 
conference website or by sending 300 words titled abstract together 
with the details of contact and affiliation until 10th of December  2018 
at (application /at/ euroacademia.org)

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