Call for Papers for the Conference:

What Remains of Galicia? Continuities – Ruptures – Perspectives

Date: April 19 – 21, 2018

Place: Vienna, Austria

Organizer: the PhD program “Austrian Galicia and its multicultural heritage” (University of Vienna) in cooperation with the Institute for Human Sciences and its program „Ukraine in European Dialogue“

Proposal Deadline: September 30, 2017

During the last decades the former Austrian crown land of Galicia and Lodomeria has shifted more and more into the public and scientific focus not only in Austria. The PhD program “Austrian Galicia and its multicultural heritage” at the University of Vienna has spent more than a decade examining interdisciplinary scientific questions concerning the interdependent cultures, literatures, languages, religions, economies, ethnic and social groups of the Austrian crown land of Galicia as well as the continued effect of the Galician heritage in Ukraine, Poland, Austria and among the worldwide emigration to the present day.

From the first partition of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until the end of World War I in 1918 the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria was one of the crown lands of Austria-Hungary. But with the collapse of the Habsburg Monarchy in 1918 that constitutional and administrative entity disappeared from the map of Europe. During the two world wars as well as the system change from socialism to capitalism the territory of historical Galicia was subjected time and again to radical transformations that pervaded all aspects of life of its formerly multicultural society and brought about a profound change in this society itself. One century after the end of Galicia as a territorial entity, this conference aims to explore the question of what remains of the crown land that existed for almost 150 years as well as of its multicultural living environment, what was lost through historical transformation processes and which new perspectives can be taken in research on Galicia. In this context the conference focuses especially on the following aspects:

Continuities:

After the collapse of the Danube Monarchy the heritage of Galicia continued to have an impact on culture and society. For instance, the idea of Galicia being the cradle of the Ukrainian national movement, the “Ukrainian Piedmont”, has been a recurring thought from the times of the Austrian crown land of Galicia to present times, much as has been the close link between the Greek Catholic Church and Ukrainian nation-building in Galicia. Poland,
too, in its claims to Galicia invoked the centuries-long history of Polish culture in the region and hence its “historical rights”.

Ruptures:

In the course of history Galicia was the site of many reform projects and witness to historical as well as social upheavals. On the one hand, these included the domestic reforms of the Habsburgs in the province on the periphery of the empire such as, for example, church reforms or the introduction, on a trial basis, of a new Civil Law Code before it was developed into the Austrian Civil Code that is still valid today in Austria. On the other hand, Galicia was also the scene of revolutions and large-scale reorganisation projects. The territorial reorganisation of Europe after World War I and World War II as well as the post-socialist transformation have also left their mark.

Perspectives:

In a multicultural society multiple perspectives exist reciprocally alongside each other. In individual communities, sometimes diametrically opposed perceptions of cities, landscapes and occurrences arise that increase the already rich cultural heritage of the region even more.

But the question of perspectives also directs the focus toward the future: In what ways does the heritage of historical Galicia continue to have an impact up to the present day? What is its influence on the culture and society of today’s Poland and Ukraine? Which future prospects opened up for the territory of historical Galicia at times of historical upheaval? Despite the extensive scholarly discussion of the subject of Galicia, it still offers space for new research perspectives to which the conference wants to devote special attention.

In accordance with the orientation of the PhD program the conference is to be interdisciplinary. Therefore we are looking forward to contributions from various disciplines dealing with historical Galicia as well as today’s western Ukraine and southern Poland, with the focus on the following aspects: everyday life, gender, kinship, the church as an institution, migration, nation-building, post-socialism, languages, the city as a place of remembrance, transformation processes, the environment, administration/law/state entities, science and scholarship.

Proposal Abstracts: 250-300 words

Language: German or English

File name of the proposals: last name_first name_institution.doc(x)

Proposals, consisting of an abstract, brief CV and contact details (e-mail address, telephone number, postal address), are to be sent by September 30, 2017, to the following address:
konferenz.galizien2018@univie.ac.at

Conference languages are German and English (without simultaneous translation). Accommodation costs will be covered by the organizer, travel costs will be refunded up to the following amounts: from Europe up to 250 euros, for participants from Israel up to 350 euros, for participants from North and South America and Asia up to 650 euros. Following the conference the publication of the contributions in a conference volume is planned.

You can find information about the conference also on our website:
https://dk-galizien.univie.ac.at/konferenz-was-bleibt-von-galizien-2018/

For more information about the PhD program “Austrian Galicia and its multicultural heritage”: https://dk-galizien.univie.ac.at/home/