[Commlist] CFP Framing the penal colony

Call for Papers

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*Framing the penal colony, 22-23 November 2019, National Justice Museum, UK*

Whether presented as a tabula rasa onto which all the hopes, desires, 
pathologies and detritus of Empire might be projected, as a brilliant 
story of nation-state building via a hearty mix of backbreaking labour 
and genocide, or as an abandoned scarred landscape of failed utopian 
dreams, the penal colony is a space as much imagined as real. This 
conference will explore historical and contemporary representations of 
the penal colony as philosophical concept, political project and 
geographical imaginary. While direct challenges to existing 
historiographies are anticipated, the intention is to consider the role 
of visual culture, maps, photography, cinema, graphic novels/comics, 
museums in 'framing' the penal colony alongside literature, philosophy, 
politics. If the penal colony is generally considered to belong to the 
past, its legacy remains in the form of the prison islands and convict 
labour camps still operative across the globe. What can historical and 
contemporary representations of the penal colony tell us about its 
continuing legacy and what opportunities do such representations offer 
for thinking critically and creatively about our own ‘carceral’ present?

We welcome proposals for papers or panels. Please send 250-word 
abstracts and a short bio to (sophie.fuggle /at/ ntu.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(sophie.fuggle /at/ ntu.ac.uk)> by 30 June 2019.

The conference is funded by the AHRC as part of the ‘Postcards from the 
bagne’ project and will be held at the National Justice Museum in 
Nottingham, UK. The project blog can be visited here: 
http://cartespostalesdubagne.com


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