STEP - Science and Technology in the European Periphery

"Renegotiating the Canon: Spanish Contributions to Western Culture"

We invite scholars from a variety of fields (literature, history, philosophy, art, political science, etc.) to participate in an interdisciplinary conference that will take place at Duke University during March 31-April 2, 2011, and whose aim is to reflect on the role that Spanish culture has played and is playing in the Western world.

The development of modern globalization during the second half of the twenty century has led to the configuration of a global cultural canon made of multicultural differences, although it also includes a series of dominant forces that tend to play a normative role. The debate on the configuration of this canon and the main source of projection of cultural icons has been directed until now by the Anglo-Saxon culture, which has imposed itself as the main producer of canonical forces. However, during the end of the twentieth century and the beginning of the twenty-first century we have seen an increased questioning of the shaping of this canon from a myriad of critical perspectives, which have led to a renegotiation of the elements that integrate this (multi)cultural canon. One of the major contributors to this new cultural dialogue will inevitably have to be Spain. As the first early modern European power to build a globe-encircling empire in the 16th century, Spain has played a fundamental role in the generation of a rich and impelling cultural heritage that has gone well beyond its national borders, and whose influences are fully active today.

The list of questions we hope to consider includes, but certainly is not limited to, the following:

• What have been the landmark contributions of Spaniards to the development of Western thought, culture and civilization?
• How has the process of influence of Spanish culture to other cultures and ages developed?
• How has Spanish culture been incorporated/rejected in relation to the Western canon?
• How have some Spanish contributions been assumed by other cultures as their own?
• What position is Spanish cultural patrimony currently occupying in the new global network of references?

The conference organizing committee welcomes papers from all theoretical perspectives in English or Spanish. Interdisciplinary proposals are particularly encouraged. Presentations should not exceed 20 minutes in length. Abstracts of approximately 250 words may be sent as a Word attachment to: renegotiatingthecanon@gmail.com by January 15, 2011.

Further information and updates will be available at our website: http://renegotiatingthecanon.wordpress.com

Alejandro Garcia-Reidy
Romance Studies Department
Duke University
205 Language Center Box 90257
Durham, NC 27708-0257
(919) 660-5961
Email: renegotiatingthecanon@gmail.com
Visit the website at http://renegotiatingthecanon.wordpress.com