Keynote Speakers (as of December 2012)
Dr. Karen Fricker, Brock university, Canada
Dr. Milija Gluhovic, Warwick university UK
(editors of the forthcoming book Performing the ‘New’ Europe: Identities, Feelings, and Politics in the Eurovision Song Contest, Palgrave Macmillan)
The 58th Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) will take place in Malmö/Sweden in May 2013. As the singular largest entertaining pan-European TV-event with millions of viewers, the ESC is a significant political, societal and cultural phenomenon. Is the Eurovision Song Contest more than simply popular entertainment? What role does this event play and for whom? What is represented through the various songs and what kind of narratives are staged? Since the ESC 2013 is located in the Öresund region, a transnational border region shared between two Scandinavian nation states, Denmark and Sweden and the urban areas of Copenhagen and Malmö, it is also relevant to ask about the significance of the places at which the ESC is performed. These are some of the question this conference will shed light on from an academic point of view, providing alternative perspectives of intellectual reflection.
Assuming that the ESC unites performative, political and spatial dimensions, the conference gathers scholars working on the ESC and related events and cultural expressions with a clear interest in multi-disciplinary approaches to the trans-nationality of Europe. We therefore invite contributions particularly reflecting upon overlaps between political culture, cultural performance and places of performativity.
This threefold perspective opens up for a division into three thematic sections focussing more in detail upon (I) Politics of the ESC (II) Performances of the ESC and (III) Places of the ESC. Papers submitted should ideally align with one of these sections, however all scholarly ESC-related topics are welcome!
(I) Performances of the ESC
Topics might include:
- tensions in narratives of identity between particularity and globalisation
- dynamics of national alignment of performers and producers
- ESC off-stage performance
(II) Politics of the ESC
Topics might include:
- Voting behaviour and voting patterns
- Voting procedures, ESC and an emerging ‘pan-European electorate’
- EBU, the transnational organisation and future of public service media
(III) Places of the ESC
Topics might include:
- ESC and its arenas: the overlap of sports and entertainment
- ESC and city-, region- and nation-branding
- Locations of the ESC as alternative spaces
Conference fee
Pending funding arrangements the conference fee currently is set at
1200 SEK (140€) with the goal for a full or partial waiving.
Submissions
Please send an abstract of no more than 300 words to
andreas.onnerfors@mah.se by 7 February 2013.
The outcome of the paper selection will be announced 7 March 2013.
Links
Eurovision and ‘New’ Europe at the University of Warwick, UK: www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/theatre_s/research/eurovision
Eurovision Research Network: www.eurovisionresearch.net
Academic committee:
Associate Professor Andreas Önnerfors, European Studies, Department of Global Political Studies, andreas.onnerfors@mah.se
Adjunct Professor Kathrine Winkelhorn, School of Arts and Communication, kathrine.winkelhorn@mah.se
Senior Lecturer Karin Book, Sport Sciences, karin.book@mah.se
Senior Lecturer Anders Hellström, Malmö Institute for Studies on Migration, Diversity and Welfare, anders.hellstrom@mah.se