‘Violence Elsewhere’: Imagining Violence Outside Germany Since 9/11

An Interdisciplinary Symposium

16-17 September 2021

The interdisciplinary symposium ‘Violence Elsewhere’: Imagining Violence Outside Germany Since 9/11 will conclude our research project ‘Violence Elsewhere’: Imagining Violence Outside Germany since 1945, funded by the German Academic Exchange Service.

Theme

From imagining insurgent violence in Syria to reflections on the mobilisation of the Bundeswehr abroad, constructions of violence committed outside the country’s borders hold a particular significance in contemporary Germany. Enquiry into that significance matters globally, because we live in a world in which ideas, discourses and images of violence proliferate and circulate transnationally in unprecedented ways. However, because of Germany’s particular history of violence and war in the twentieth century, imagining, representing and perpetrating violence since 1945 in German culture has been especially fraught. The German case, therefore, demands particular and distinctive attention. We propose that ‘violence elsewhere’ – that is, constructions in recent German culture of violence taking place in distant, imagined or temporally distinct times and places – offers a stage where violence can become imaginable, representable and doable.

This symposium turns to the post 9/11 context, with that date marking a significant historical moment, with regard to the cultural meaning of violence amongst other things. Talks, panels and events will explore ‘violence elsewhere’ in different cultural forms and media, and from interdisciplinary and gendered perspectives. While we focus specifically on the post 9/11 context, we also aim to highlight the ways in which ideas and representations of ‘violence elsewhere’ are deeply embedded in longer historical continuities. We will consider artistic, discursive and cultural production from Germany or by subjects and practitioners linked to that country in an expansive range of ways. In addition we analyse the transnational engagement of such productions with other subjects, discourses and works worldwide, as well as the engagement of the wider world with Germany.

Details

Due to Covid-19 the symposium had to be postponed and will now take place online from 16-17 September 2021.

We are pleased to be bringing together a dedicated group of approximately 20 researchers from a range of disciplines, who will explore the multi-faceted aspects of our symposium's theme. To facilitate in-depth discussion and exchange of ideas, we have decided to hold this symposium as a closed event, limiting participation to those directly involved.

The full programme can be viewed here.

Enquiries: Please send any enquiries to violence.elsewhere@gmail.com.

The research project ‘Violence Elsewhere’ is led by Dr Clare Bielby of the Centre for Women’s Studies (CWS), University of York and Dr Mererid Puw Davies, Department of German, UCL, with participation from expert academics from UK, German and other continental European institutions. We gratefully acknowledge the support of the University of York and UCL.

For more information and project updates, please follow us on twitter: @V_E_Research