Vilnius University, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, the University of Lodz, and the Egodocumental Research Group (https://egodocuments.umk.pl) organise an international conference focusing on research, development, and changing perceptions of egodocuments in the twenty-first century. The conference aims to bring together scholars from different disciplines to share their insights and to encourage interdisciplinary studies of egodocuments.
The conference will also be the first meeting of the International Egodocumental Network established in December 2023 by the Egodocumental Research Group (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń NCU and the University of Lodz) to unite scholars from different disciplines working on egodocuments. It provides a platform for discussion, collaboration, and exchange of information between the participants, as well as online research seminars organized twice a year. In this dimension, our conference continues two editions of the Scientific Symposium "Egodocuments, Life-Writing and Autobiographical Texts..." organized at NCU in Toruń in 2022 and 2024.
The conference aims at two primary goals:
1. Discussion of the concept, typology, genres, and narratives of egodocuments in the context of the following research aspects in any historical period: development of the manuscript, the print and the digital media, publishing and circulation of the written word in society, egodocumentary heritage and its expression, migration of narratives in the media, creative writing and digital storytelling, inclusive publishing, artificial (generative) intelligence, information and communication of cultural heritage, etcetera.
2. Addressing the questions of human inner and outer reality by using the egodocumentary approach. Among the topics for discussion:
- cultural identity,
- otherness and strangeness,
- social and geographical mobility,
- sexuality
- privacy
- religious experience
The organizers also welcome papers related to different historical periods, geographical regions, in the long term and various dimensions of human identity and reality expressed in egodocuments – travel writing, epistolary, diaries and memoirs, album amicorum, silva rerum, egodocumentary marginalia and other self-testimonies (Selbstzeugnisse, samoświadectwa, écrits du for privé etc), as well as their expression and potential use in fiction and documentary literature, art, film, and the creative industries in general.
Two collective volumes are envisaged based on a selection of papers presented at the conference. One will be submitted to the journal Book Studies – Knygotyra https://www.journals.vu.lt/knygotyra, referenced in SCOPUS and Web of Science, and the other will be submitted to Brill's series Egodocuments and History.
Please send your topics and abstracts (150-200 words) by 31 October 2024 to Veronika Girininkaitė veronika.girininkaite@mb.vu.lt. Address for communication on general matters egodocuments@umk.pl, organisational questions in Vilnius – agne.zumbrickaite@kf.vu.lt.
The conference will be held in English.
Conference venue: Vilnius University Campus.
Registration cost: 80 EUR (covers participation, coffee breaks and lunches).
Organizing committee: Prof. Arvydas Pacevičius (Vilnius University - Chairman), Prof. Aušra Navickienė (Vilnius University -Vice-Chairwoman), Dr. Hadrian Ciechanowski (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń), Dr. Veronika Girininkaitė (Vilnius University), Dr. Hab. Prof. Michaël Green (University of Lodz).
Scientific committee: Prof. Dr. Hab. Waldemar Chorążyczewski (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń), Prof. Aušra Martišiūtė-Linartienė (The Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore), Dr. Joanna Orzeł (University of Lodz), Prof. Dr. Hab. Stanisław Roszak (Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń), Dr. Jolita Sarcevičienė (The Lithuanian Institute of History), Dr. Kšištof Tolkačevski (Vilnius University)
Keynote speakers:
Dr. Nataliia Voloshkova, Kazimierz Wielki University and Oxford Brookes University;
Prof. Leona Toker, Hebrew University of Jerusalem;
Prof. François-Joseph Ruggiu, Sorbonne Université, CNRS and Oxford University