Reconstruction Special Issue: (IN)SECURITIES - Call for Abstracts - EXTENDED DEADLINE!!

From: Susana Martins <[email protected]>

*RECONSTRUCTION 12.3 SPECIAL ISSUE: "(IN)SECURITIES"*

edited by**

*SUSANA ARAÚJO *(University of Lisbon)

*SUSANA S. MARTINS* (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven)

* *

*(IN)SECURITIES   -   CALL FOR ABSTRACTS  -   !! EXTENDED DEADLINE:
**30TH NOVEMBER
!!*

* *

In the past years, the world has been dealing with increasing anxieties
about state and urban security, which were largely exacerbated after
traumatic experiences such as the 9/11 terrorist attacks of New York and
Washington D.C. in 2001, the 2004 train attacks in Madrid and the London
bombings in 2005.

Although it has been widely acknowledged how these events generated
political agendas deeply concerned with strong security policies and
measures, other important consequences have nonetheless emerged. Amongst
contemporary cultural landscapes, questions of security and urban space
have been pertinently and diversely addressed by musicians, writers,
graphic novelists, film-makers and visual artists. Such responses have  
been
intriguing enough to engage scholars in a vibrant debate concerning  
whether
or not a new artistic and literary genre was created – that of  
disaster in
a post-9/11 world.

Keeping in mind such fascinating panorama of artistic repercussions, the
theme issue “(In)Securities” aims to examine the way recent anxieties  
about
security have shaped current representations of the city and urban  
spaces
not only in the United Sates but also in Europe. Since the “war on  
terror”
was launched, a rising number of novelists and visual artists has  
focused
their work on urban settings, conveying generalized hesitations towards
questions of security: on the one hand, many of these works depict a
growing uneasiness regarding social and private security; on the other
hand, they also disclose an increasing awareness concerning social and
political construction of security discourses and practices.

The (In)Securities issue will constitute a critical and theoretical  
arena
where these representations will be more thoroughly tackled, with a
particular emphasis granted to the way terror and security narratives  
have
been differently conveyed. Pursuing this goal, we will be welcoming
contributions dealing provocatively and in an interdisciplinary fashion
with literary and artistic case studies.

Since our aim is to tackle a broad panorama of cultural phenomena, we
encourage contributions committed, but not limited, to a wide range of
methodological frameworks, from cultural and visual studies to  
literature
and comparative studies, in the broadest sense of the terms.

*Keywords: *security/insecurity – culture of surveillance – terror –  
city
representations – visuality in literature – arts in general –
intermediality and intertextuality – transatlantic studies - art and
politics**





*CALL FOR ABSTRACTS*

Please send 500-600 word abstracts to:

Susana ARAÚJO: *[email protected]***

Susana MARTINS: *[email protected]***

By *NOVEMBER 30th 2011*

* *

*
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*Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture (ISSN: 1547-4348) is an
innovative online cultural studies journal dedicated to fostering an
intellectual community composed of scholars and their audience, granting
them all the ability to share thoughts and opinions on the most  
important
and influential work in contemporary interdisciplinary studies.
www.reconstruction.eserver.org*
*
*

-- 
Susana S. Martins
K.U.Leuven Arts Faculty
Lieven Gevaert Research Centre for Photography