Call for Papers
The Classical is Political, CAA 2021
Since the rise of nationalism in the 19th century, the modern nation has defined state identity in the present by redefining its ties to the distant past. No longer an historical—or art historical—given, the temporal, geographic, and ethnic construction of “the classical” became a function of the particular geo-political ambitions of the nation state. Throughout the late modern period, the territorial claims of imperialist nations were motivated by notions of ethnic and cultural lineage connecting occupying powers to the classical pasts of occupied lands. Meanwhile, some countries looked to notions of local classical history to define their distinct cultural identities as defense against the incursions of imperialist powers. The classical remains the subject of contestation in the contemporary. Whereas the right mobilizes classical aesthetics as the language of reactionary nostalgia, the left appropriates these forms as a vehicle for staging progressive positions on discourses on race, gender, religion and disability.
We solicit papers, focusing on a range of geographic and cultural localities, which examine the conflicts surrounding the construction of the classical. How and when did definitions of “the classical” take hold? How are claims on the classical past mobilized and what role has art and architecture played in these claims? What types of trans-cultural influences and hybrid cultural forms do definitions of the classical aim to distill or purify? How has the rise of post-colonial theory de-centered hegemonic constructs of the classical?
Please send your proposal, including the completed proposal form, title, 250 words (max.) abstract, 2-page CV, as well as a short statement explaining why your proposal would be a good fit for this panel: titrand@buffalo.edu and beringol@buffalo.edu. We encourage early submissions, and we can only consider proposals received on or before Sept. 16, 2020. Please note that panel participants must be active CAA members at the time of selection.