Al-Andalus in Motion: Travelling Concepts and Cross-Cultural Contexts’ Conference
Thursday, November 15, 2018 (All day) to Friday, November 16, 2018 (All day)
Istanbul Medeniyet University, Istanbul
The history of Iberia, as both an originator and a product of global colonization, constitutes a field of study for interrogating fundamental concepts of contemporary liberal-democratic societies. The ‘Iberianate venture’ embraces the ‘Al-Andalus’ syndrome (Islamic Andalusia as a model of tolerant co-existence between Christians, Muslims and Jews), the Iberian ‘Black legend’ (repressive Inquisitorial Catholicism, imperial brutality, economic backwardness), and Sefarad (an ambiguous place of home and exile for Iberian Jews). Within the framework of the ‘Traveling Concepts’ strand of Language Acts & Worldmaking, this conference will focus on the many ways in which Al Andalus becomes a figure of thought, a means by which societies, minority groups, and individuals past and present represent and critically engage with questions of religious pluralism, intercultural contact, and national identity. Proposals for papers are invited from across the disciplines with a focus on the cross-cultural circulation of Andalusian and Sephardic ideas and concepts across geographies and histories.
