[ecrea] Call for papers: The Media of Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist: The media of time-specific cultural patterns



Call for papers for a Workshop on September 19-21, 2013 at the Zentrum 
für Interdisziplinäre Forschung (ZiF), Bielefeld, Germany

organised by Susanne Hakenbeck (University of Cambridge) and Monika 
Krause (Goldsmiths College, University of London

Keynote Speaker: Fred Turner, Stanford University

John Hutnyk, Goldsmiths College

Deadline for abstracts: November 15, 2012



This conference at the Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Forschung (ZiF), 
Bielefeld brings together perspectives and cases from a broad range of 
disciplines to explore the potential of the concept of Zeitgeist as a 
tool for the comparison of social forms and forms of mediation.

The way the term zeitgeist has travelled from its native German to 
everyday uses in other languages is evidence both of its specific place 
in the history of ideas and the way in which it resonates with more 
widespread understandings of a specific dimension of cultural processes. 
In some disciplines, the term is part of the taken-for-granted 
repertoire of modes of explanations, but its theoretical status has 
rarely been explored explicitly in the context of alternative approaches 
to describing and explaining societies and cultures.

A few cases can illustrate the descriptive power of the term: How can we 
theorise the rapid spread of Gothic art or the fascination with death in 
Baroque art across geographic contexts? How do we make sense of the 
emergence of the idea of the unconscious in the late 19th century, 
beyond the focus on the individual Sigmund Freud? How exactly do we 
imagine the link between nuclear deterrence as a political phenomenon 
and its echoes in popular culture?

Zeitgeist not only describes distinctive ideas, but also specific 
practices and forms of knowledge. Zeitgeist refers to cultural patterns 
that are temporally specific, cross-over different areas of social life, 
and extend across space. The term zeitgeist gains its distinctive edge 
partly by what it is not: zeitgeist describes something that is rooted 
in temporally specific circumstances, while not being entirely fleeting 
or contingent. If we describe or explain something by zeitgeist we are 
usually saying that it is not fully explained by functional necessity, 
by the economic base of a society, or by institutional and 
organizational factors. While zeitgeist is clearly a cultural 
phenomenon, it is in tension with anything one might assume as constant 
properties of culture (such as Levi-Strauss’ structuring binaries or of 
cognition. Neither is it cultural in the sense in which distinct 
separate (national, class-based, ethnic or sub) cultures are 
traditionally theorised in social anthropology and which, even in 
reactions against it still dominates debates about culture.

We welcome contributions from scholars from a range of disciplines 
across the humanities and social sciences. Relevant disciplines include 
history, archaeology, anthropology, art history, architecture, 
sociology, science studies, literature, cultural studies, and media 
studies. Contributions are invited to consider the following questions. 
The list of case studies is not exhaustive and is intended as an 
inspiration and starting point for discussion.

Guiding Questions

· What links elements of zeitgeist? How does zeitgeist travel between 
people and across space? How can we explore the symbolic and the 
material dimensions of this process? What are the material carriers that 
help zeitgeist travel? What kind of media and forms of mediation matter 
in different historical periods? How do phenomena of zeitgeist vary 
across different social forms and historical periods? Are modern 
zeitgeists different from medieval ones? If so, how? What do we learn 
about different social forms by examining the way their zeitgeists 
operate? How is zeitgeist transmitted in the in the pre-modern era?

· How can we theorise the relationship between phenomena of zeitgeist 
and other cultural phenomena? How can we think about the relationship 
between zeitgeist and social groups?

Examples and case studies

· the emergence of megalithic architecture across Europe in the fourth 
millennium BC

· the revival of human representations in the Iron Age after a complete 
break throughout the Bronze Age

· the link between stoicism and early Christianity

· common notions of kingship in early medieval Europe

· the Gothic style

· the Reformation

· modernist architecture

· the spirit of 1968

· the “1980s”

Practicalities

Please submit a long abstract of 300 to 500 words by 15 November 2012, 
to the organisers by email. A limited budget to help with travel 
expenses is available. Accommodation and meals will be provided. Invited 
presenters will be notified by 1 December 2012. Please be prepared to 
share your paper by August 15, 2013 as papers will be circulated before 
the workshop. The workshop will be reserved for intensive discussion of 
papers.

Venue

The ZiF - Bielefeld University's Institute for Advanced Study - supports 
and funds outstanding and innovative interdisciplinary research 
projects. Founded in 1968 as Germany's first institution of its kind, 
the ZiF became a model for numerous Institutes for Advanced Study 
throughout Europe. Open to any research topic, the ZiF welcomes scholars 
from all academic disciplines and countries. It offers the opportunity 
to realize interdisciplinary academic projects with international 
colleagues by means of providing residential fellowships, grants, and 
conference services.



http://www.uni-bielefeld.de/ZIF/




--
Dr. Monika Krause
Lecturer in Sociology
University of London
Goldsmiths College
New Cross
London, SE14 6NW

020 79197563
http://goldsmiths.academia.edu/MonikaKrause

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