[ecrea] CFP - Flashbacks - Nostalgic Media and mediated forms of nostalgia - international conference - University of Geneva

Call for papers - International conference

Flashbacks - Nostalgic Media and mediated forms of nostalgia

13-14 September 2012

Institute of Communication, Media and Journalism studies

University of Geneva - Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences - 
Department of Sociology


Deadline for proposals: May 6, 2012

Send abstracts of max. 500 words, bibliography and biographical 
statement to:

(flashbacks2012 /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(flashbacks2012 /at/ gmail.com)>

Confirmed speakers: Prof. Daniel Dayan, Prof. Ute Holl, Prof. Andrew Hoskins


Media are time machines. They remember and forget. Media screen and 
record parts of memory and history as well as they maintain collective 
memories and contribute to historical narratives by (re)shaping events, 
happenings or other incidents. Media also tend to remind their own past 
by re-using archive-images in the present, for example. In this sense, 
media seem to be nostalgic of the past as well as of their own one. 
Nostalgia as a concept, feeling or expression is not new. The notion has 
been introduced by a doctor in Switzerland (17th century) to describe 
the phenomenon of homesickness. Related to nostalgia is also the idea of 
melancholia or yearning. These days, there seems to be a BOOM of 
nostalgia: The Artist (revival of the silent film) or television series 
like Mad Men - exploring aesthetics and social life of the sixties – are 
examples of what we could name nostalgic media (makers). Digital 
photography on cell phones gets a polaroid-touch; the retro design 
becomes digitized. Advertising for watches or cars is linked to 
nostalgic forms of family tradition. Fans of the fifties organise 
parties and fashion events to feel like being part of the past in the 
present. Being nostalgic and remembering pieces of the past also 
includes forgetting. What kind of memories are discriminated? Can media 
really be nostalgic? Which specific forms of nostalgia appear in 
contemporary society and why? Can people be nostalgic if they did not 
experience the past they pretend being nostalgic of? What kind of 
politics of nostalgia exist? What is the impact of nostalgia on the 
media market and its influence on economy? Finally, given the arbitrary 
(?) use of the past in all its imaginable variations and cultural 
systems, is it still possible to use the word nostalgia or should there 
be a neologism describing the transformation of the past in(to) the 
digital era? Could it even be possible to be simply nostalgic of 
nostalgia; finally describing the eternal research for (lost) identity?


This international conference aims to explore nostalgia as a (mass) 
media phenomena and also seeks for contributions that treat any other 
mediated forms of nostalgia.


Topics may include, but will not be limited to, the following:

/nostalgia and (mass)media/

publics, web- and fan-communities

audiovisual narratives, screening, recording

seriality, flashbacks and temporality

news, journalism, (printed) press

broadcast revivals, archive discoveries

political past, political systems, (n)ostalgia, institutions

special nostalgic broadcast (home country, culinary traditions etc.)

photography, comics, video games and new technologies


/mediated forms of nostalgia /

architecture, (product)-design and fashion

psychological aspects and history of nostalgia

migration, home-comers, homesickness

geographical maps, tourist attractions and villages

folklore, traditions, regional nostalgia

museums, exhibitions and contemporary art

flea markets, vintage stores and fairs, parties, concerts


/economy, marketing and nostalgia /

Vintage-retro branding

retro-design (cars, watches, furniture)

advertising, marketing and luxury products

music and arts business


/theories and methodologies /

nostalgic media studies and critical approaches

the come-back of philosophers and thinkers “of the past” in

science, arts and other research domains


Deadline for proposals: May 6, 2012

Send abstracts of max. 500 words, bibliography and biographical 
statement to:

(flashbacks2012 /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(flashbacks2012 /at/ gmail.com)>


Participants will have to cover their own travel and accommodation 
expenses. Travel information as well as a list of affordable hotels and 
other accommodations will be posted on the conference-website in June.

Participation fees will be announced but will not exceed 100 CHF (and 
less for students).

For any other inquiries feel free to contact Katharina Niemeyer 
((Katharina.Niemeyer /at/ unige.ch) <mailto:(Katharina.Niemeyer /at/ unige.ch)> / 
(katharinaniemeyer /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(katharinaniemeyer /at/ gmail.com)>).



--
Katharina Niemeyer
Université de Genève/ Département de sociologie
Institut des sciences de la communication, des médias et du journalisme
40 Boulevard du Pont-d'Arve
1211 Genève 4
Mail: (Katharina.Niemeyer /at/ unige.ch) <mailto:(Katharina.Niemeyer /at/ unige.ch)>
Tél.: ++41 22 379 8196 <tel:%2B%2B41%2022%20379%208196>
http://www.isc.unige.ch/ <http://www.unige.ch/ses/socio/communication>