Borderlands – both in terms of geography and administration, as well as socio-culturally – are a special type of area experiencing contact with the other, the separate, the alien; a space of coexistence, cooperation, but also conflict. ‘Borderlands’ indicates the existence of a border, real or imagined, but always influencing those who live in its vicinity, regardless of whether they perceive it on a daily basis. The aim of the conference is an attempt to reflect on the specificity of life in the variously understood frontiers of Europe and the world, both ‘eternal’ and those that arose in the 20th century as a result of global and local conflicts, which were noticeable in oral history accounts, resulting e.g. in changes in administrative boundaries and population migrations.
We invite proposals to present research using the sources and methodology of oral history for the analysis of, inter alia, the following issues:
• home / everyday life near the border
• new and old borderlands
• experience of living at the intersection of regions
• people of the borderlands
• imaginary boundaries (of cultures, worldviews, generations, identities, etc.)
• memory and heritage of the borderlands.
At the same time, the organizers would like to invite proposals reflecting on oral history itself as a research method used by representatives of various disciplines, and thus situated on the border of various fields of study.
The conference will be held in Polish and English (with simultaneous translation). Proposals in Polish or English should be sent via the form by February 13, 2022. The abstract should include the scope of use of oral history sources and / or methodologies and a direct reference to the topic of the conference.
The Organisers will inform Speakers about the acceptance of the proposal by the end of February 2022. Speakers will be asked to send a draft version of their lecture by May 10, 2022, and the texts for publication by July 31, 2022. The organisers plan to publish the conference texts in the “Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”. Information will also be provided about the remuneration for Authors of articles accepted for publication. The conference will take place alongside the general assembly of members of the Polish Oral History Society.
Organiser: Ośrodek „Pamięć i Przyszłość”; Partner: Centrum Archiwistyki Społecznej; Patron: ”Wrocławski Rocznik Historii Mówionej”, Polish Oral History Association. CONTACT: ewa.maj@zajezdnia.org.