Conference in Joensuu 2017

Perception of Russia in Contemporary World: Memory, Identity, Conflicts

Venue: University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu, Finland

Dates: November 27-28th 2017

This event is viewed as a capstone of the international research project "Perception of Russia Across Eurasia: Memory, Identity, Conflicts" which is being implemented by the international team of scholars within the framework of EU-Russia scientific cooperation program - ERA.NetRUSPlus 2016-2017.

The two-days' final conference will focus on the discursive construction of images of Russia by various ethno-cultural groups in different post-Soviet, post-socialist and Western countries. We welcome comparative papers not only drawing parallels between groups and states, but also between the public/political discourse related to Russia and the perceptions of ordinary people based on their historical memory, identity shifts and personal experiences.

Our aim is to bring together international scholars who could present results of their latest research on the topic and who could also be marked by a variety of conceptual approaches, regional foci, and disciplines (Sociology, History, Cultural Studies, Literary Studies, Social Linguistics, International Relations, etc.). We also propose to discuss different methodologies and theoretical approaches to the topic under study.

In more concrete terms, we seek contributions addressing (though not limited to) the following themes:
- Country-specific contexts of the formation of the image of Russia; historical events as main determinants of how various ethno-cultural groups perceive Russia in the countries of East and West;
- Impact of social status, political views, ethno-cultural identity, age and gender on individual attitudes towards Russia;
- Image of Russia as a mirror of cultural/social societal cleavages and ongoing social transformations in the post-Soviet, post-socialist and Western European countries;
- Russian linguistic and cultural space in the post-Soviet countries; Russian language beyond Russia between commodification and emotional attachment;
- Mass media and public discourse versus personal experience of visiting Russia/living in Russia (past and present), migration experience, personal links and contacts as determinants of attitudes towards Russia;
- Role of Russian minorities and diasporic groups;
- Attitudes towards Russia through the lens of historical (Soviet) memory: top-down and bottom-up approach.

We are very pleased to confirm the following keynote speakers:

• Vladimir Kolossov (Institute of Geography, Russian Academy of Sciences)

• Ilkka Liikanen Russia and the East-West Dimension of Building the International Role of the EU (University of Eastern Finland, Joensuu)

• Lara Ryazanova-Clarke ‘I am a European person but have Russian values’: The Russophone World in the UK (Princess Dashkova Russian Centre, University of Edinburgh)

• Maria Yelenevskaya Russian-speaking Israelis: Paradoxes of identity in the mirror of language use (Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa)

Working languages of the conference will be English and Russian.The deadline for Abstracts (in English), not exceeding 300words, is September the 20th, 2017.

Please, send your abstracts as E-mail attachments, together with a short Bio (with a list of latest publications, not more than one page) to Natalya Kosmarskaya and Anastassia Zabrodskaja to the E-mail address: russiaperception@gmail.com
The selection of papers will occur in September and early October 2017 and notifications will be sent to the prospective participants by October the 10th, 2017.

Funding: Regrettably, the organizers of the conference are unable to cover any travel or accommodation expenses of participants, so we request you to apply to your institution/university funds.

http://www.tlu.ee/en/Baltic-Film-Media-Arts-and-Communication-School/Research-and-development/Perception-of-Russia-across-Eurasia:-Memory-Identity-Conflicts-/Conference-in-Joensuu-2017