Practical Information
This conference will take place at the Monasterium Poortackere (Oude Houtlei 56, 9000 Ghent) from October 4 to October 5, 2024.
On the evening of 3 October at 18:00, all conference delegates are invited to the UGent Boekentoren for a roundtable discussion on the history and memory of World War II Occupation in Belgium. The event aims to take stock of current debates about Belgian memory of World War II by addressing the history of collaboration in Belgium and the role that cultural products, including literary texts and digital resources, have played in the articulation of a memory of the past.
To register, please click here.
Theme and Scope
This conference delves into the complex ethical dimensions of World War II as represented in literature. By examining the nuanced portrayals of occupation, collaboration, and resistance, the event seeks to explore how literature uniquely configures the memory of wartime complicities. Scholars from around the globe will present case studies that shed light on the diverse positionalities constructed in literary works, addressing the ethical questions woven into the fabric of military occupations. The conference will cover topics such as the agency of perpetrators, indirect participation in war crimes, “impure resistance,” and the challenge to silence and taboos in memory culture. Through this interdisciplinary lens, the event aims to move beyond binary conceptions of guilt and innocence, offering a multifaceted understanding of World War II’s impact on cultural memory.
Keynote Speakers
- Ivan Stacy (Beijing Normal University): Long Occupations and Fallen Cities: Fictions of World War Two in Asia (4 October, 17:00-18:30)
- Mihaela Mihai (The University of Edinburgh): Structural Violence and the Limits of Polyphonic Memory (5 October, 9:00-10:30)
For the full programme, please visit this link.
