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CECAB - Hybrid Cultures in the Atlantic: Relations between Africa, Asia, Brazil, and the Caribbean

CECAB - Hybrid Cultures in the Atlantic: Relations between Africa, Asia, Brazil, and the Caribbean

Publié le par Stéphane Martelly (Source : H-Caribbean / Cerlac)

THIRD INTERNATIONAL CARIBBEAN CONFERENCE IN BRAZIL GOIÂNIA 2004

HYBRID CULTURES IN THE ATLANTIC: RELATIONS BETWEEN AFRICA, ASIA, BRAZIL, AND THE CARIBBEAN

 


The Third International Caribbean Conference in Brazil will take place in Goiânia, Brazil, between October 20th and 24th.



The conference theme - Hybrid Cultures in the Atlantic: Relations between Africa, Asia, Brazil, and the Caribbean - covers four minor themes: 1. Cultures of labour and migration; 2. Globalisation and international relations; 3. Literature, music, dance, image, and memory; 4. Comparative history.



CECAB - Centro de Estudos do Caribe no Brasil - is the first research  centre in Brazil entirely devoted to the study of the Caribbean. Since its establishment in 1994, it has become a national and international reference for  Caribbean studies in Brazil. Through its pioneering work in Brazil (where it remains the only centre of its kind), it has already organised two international conferences. It has helped Brazilian, Caribbean, and other researchers  carry out work related to the Caribbean. It has also helped train, through its association with the Departments of History of Universidade Federal de Goiás and Universidade de Brasília, masters, doctoral, and postdoctoral  students working on the Caribbean. The Centre is located in Goiânia, Central Brazil, just south of Brasília, the national capital, and ninety minutes away by plane from São Paulo. One of Brazil's lesser known states, Goiás has become in recent years one of its richest states (through export-oriented agribusiness) and, due to its pristine, bountiful and often splendid nature, also the prime destination in the country for adventure and ecological tourism. Its capital, Goiânia, is the second greenest state capital in Brazil and, just like its better-known neighbouring city, Brasília, is a planned, modernist metropolis.



The conference theme and minor themes attempt to integrate into scholarly discussions of the Caribbean region the Brazilian Caribbean (Brasil Caribe) as two regions where black cultures have been very important in relation  to other cultures. The inclusion of the regions Norte (North) and Nordeste (Northeast) of Brazil as part of the Caribbean is already a fact that is internationally acknowledged in both the political and scholarly domains. In what concerns Goiás state, the growing visibility accorded to Central Brazilian black cultures has smoothed the way towards comparative studies related to those two other regions. Those studies have gone beyond notions of territory and nation through the use of concepts such as cultures of migration, the relations between different kinds of cultural hybridism and a notion of frontier/border. All these concepts and notions also go beyond traditional dichotomies and divisions. They allow us to go beyond the idea of monolithic, inner-looking cultures. Here it is important to reflect on how contacts and forced or spontaneous migratory processes have helped shape the diverse identities of ethnic groups and individuals. The conference themeattempts to look at the hybrid origins of Caribbean cultures through the study of the importance of continents other than Europe in shaping Caribbean  identities, particularly Africa and Asia. The Caribbean element contributing to cultural hybridism in the former metropolises will also be examined in the context of globalisation. The stress on Africa and Asia, instead of Europe or the US and Canada, results from an awareness that subaltern cultures are often studied in terms of concepts and categories created by hegemonic cultures. The challenge here is to reflect on ourselves from our own experiences and concepts. Later these will be discussed as part of a broader dialogue with Europeans, US citizens, and Canadians. Of course, we expect that researchers from Europe, the US and Canada with an interest in the Caribbean will also take part in the conference. The primary purpose of the conference however is, as in the previous conferences organised by CECAB, to strive towards bringing Brazil closer to (Afro-) Caribbean, African, and Asian cultures. A secondary aim is to contribute to the interdisciplinary debate in various research fields, particularly those related to history and anthropology.


Prospective participants are encouraged to propose either individual papers or panels. The deadline for sending abstracts is  March 31st, 2004. The abstracts (and panels) selected will be posted on our web site by April 30th (www.fchf.ufg.br/CaribeBrasil). Full papers should be sent before July 31st. Abstracts and papers can be sent either by e-mail to ocabrera@fchf.ufg.br or else to the address below: Centro de Estudos do Caribe no Brasil Faculdade de Ciências Humanas e Filosofia Universidade Federal de Goiás Campus II Samambaia 74001-970 Goiânia - GO Brazil Telephone number: +55-62-521-1457 Fax number: +55-62-521-1013


The Conference is a joint undertaking by Centro de Estudos do Caribe no Brasil (Centre for Caribbean Studies in Brazil) of Universidade Federal de Goiás, Secretaria de Ciências e Tecnologia do Estado de Goiás (Department for Science and Technology of Goiás State), the History Graduate School and History Department of Universidade Federal de Goiás, Universidade Católica de Goiás, History Graduate School of Universidade de Brasília, Espace Nouveaux Mondes (FLASH, Université de La Rochelle, France), Instituto de Historia de Michoacán, Mexico, and Universidad de Gran Canaria in Spain.


Conference convenors are Olga Cabrera, Fernando Rosa-Ribeiro, Maria Teresa Cortés Zavala, Jaime de Almeida, Laura Muñoz, Miguel Suárez Bosa, Terezinha Marra, Elisabeth Bicalho and Júlia Bueno de Morais.