Cultural Histories: Emergent Theories, Methods and the Digital Turn

In both history and literary studies, critical theory and the cultural turn have called into question
the role of narratives and metanarratives of teleology and causation, and of monological or
hegemonic voices in scholarly constructions of the past. Be it a reading of the problems of the
past with an eye to possibilities in the future, a genealogical analysis of the remains of the past,
cultural ethnography channeled through archives, or a critical rendering of a discipline’s
formation, historical projects help us understand ourselves and the sites we inhabit at the same
time that they can cause ruptures and discontinuities that unmoor familiar regimes of truth and
the instrumental and rational models that produce them. Writing cultural history has been
progressively challenged by a range of intellectual developments since the latter part of the
twentieth-century. Critical theory and the cultural turn have called into question the roles of
narratives and metanarratives, of teleology and causation, and of monological or hegemonic
voices in scholarly constructions of the past. The contemporary accelerated pace of change, the
ephemerality of eventful experience, and the relentless remediation of representations of events
in the age of digital information networks present new kinds of challenges in relating the present
to events of the recent past. The shift towards digital scholarship further complicates historical
projects by offering a much larger potential “archive” of sources and new tools for scholarly
engagement. The current fascination with the archive and its application to uncommensurable
referents itself points to a sea change in how we engage with, attempt to access, and inscribe the
past. Digital tools offer the chance to engage with the past using evidence on a much larger scale,
as well as different modes of representation than those possible with print media. Yet engaging
with the potential and perils of digital media requires dialogue with “analog” debates over how
to engage in cultural history. This conference aims to bring together literary scholars and
historians to discuss the impact of recent theoretical and methodological developments in our
fields and think of new directions.

More information:
http://www.cwrc.ca/uncategorized/cfp-cultural-histories-emergent-theories-methods-and-the-digital-turn/