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Convenors
Andrea Aramburú Villavisencio (University of Cambridge)
Joe Sutliff Sanders (University of Cambridge)
Summary
Comics and the Global South will be a two-day conference devoted to exploring the intersections of comics studies and decolonial theory. With an emphasis on the comics form, its distribution, and its circulation, this conference is interested in probing the medium’s potentialities for producing decolonised knowledge and carrying out inter/trans-medial dialogues of South-South solidarity.
The conference attempts to question and challenge the idea that the advent of a cross-cultural comics scholarship requires Europeans to “cross borders.” Instead, we propose to reflect on how those “borders” have already been crossed during a long colonial history. We suggest, further, that the international dimension of comics ought to be placed within a larger discussion “from the south,” that is, by taking into account the processes of hegemonic domination lived in postcolonial regions.
@ComicsGSconf | #comicsglobalsouth
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Conference Assistance: conferences@crassh.cam.ac.uk
Call For Papers
Deadline 5 January 2022
How and where do comics studies and decolonial theory intersect? How can comics be, indeed how are they already, places for the production of decolonised knowledge? In what moments of organic growth have comics cultivated dialogues of solidarity within the Global South, and what intentional vision is necessary to grow those dialogues further?
Comics and the Global South will be a two-day hybrid (online and face-to-face) conference focusing on these questions, broadly conceived. For the purposes of this conference, Global South refers specifically to countries in Africa, Central and Latin America, and some regions of Asia, but we also understand the term as a geopolitical and critical tool. Therefore, we imagine the global south not as location based but dependent on context, including dialectics within a country geographically situated in the North.
We encourage proposals to make connections of “South-South” commonality between works from different countries. By asking what southering comics studies would look like, we aim to sketch an active methodology based on an ethics of South-South solidarity. We welcome proposals for twenty-minute presentations to be delivered (in English) either online or in person. We will carefully consider proposals about any topic that helps advance the conversation about decolonisation and comics in the Global South, including but certainly not limited to topics such as:
- Explorations of individual titles and/or creators from the Global South
- Comparisons of titles and creators from multiple national and cultural positions
- The changing nature of comics in the Global South
- Enquiries grounded in disciplines of Art, Sociology, Library and Information Sciences, Language Studies, Education, and Literature
- Enquires that blend disciplinary approaches
- Developing theories of comics studies from within traditions of the Global South
- Re-envisioning the theoretical models necessary for reading comics in the Global South
- Activism through comics
- Decolonising the production and distribution of comics
- Comics that experiment with form and genre
- Decolonising Eurocentric notions of crossing borders
Keynote speakers for the conference include Roma Chatterji (Delhi School of Economics, author of Graphic Narratives and the MythologicalImagination in India and others) and Sara La Torre (Founder of Soma Publicaciones and Zinebiosis (Perú)). The conference will explore alternative formats that include roundtables, art workshops, and an art exhibition showcasing work from Global South comics artists.
Please submit 200-word proposals to comicsGS@educ.cam.ac.uk. Please indicate your preference to present in person or online.
Scholars at all stages of professional development are invited, and scholars with limited travel budgets or mobility restricted by the pandemic are especially encouraged to participate by presenting their work online. Our goal is to keep the conference registration fee to no more than £50/person, and fee waivers will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Call for Papers poster
Call For Comics
Deadline for artwork: 4 February 2022
The upcoming conference Comics and the Global South will be a two-day hybrid (online and face-to-face) conference focusing on the intersections of comics and decoloniality.
Over the course of two days, we will bring into view both academic and artistic dialogues between the comics medium and decolonial conversations. The conference will explore alternative formats that include academic panels, roundtables, art workshops, and reading groups.
The Comics and the GlobalSouth art exhibition will present comics from across the Global South during the whole duration of the event. An artists’ roundtable will take place on Day 2.
We welcome one-page comics (made individually or collectively) to be presented during the conference in digital format and in any language. In particular, we welcome entrances from GlobalSouth artists. Artists whose work is selected are welcome to attend in person or online.
A copy of the proposed artwork (300dpi minimum) and a brief biographical note of the artist(s) (max. 200 words) can be sent to: comicsGS@educ.cam.ac.uk
