[spectre] (fwd) CFP: Cultural Exchanges between USSR and Popular Democracies (Bucharest, 16-17 Jul16)

[ab at mikro.in-berlin.de]

From: Alina Popescu <popescualinaa at yahoo.fr>
Date: Jun 19, 2016
Subject: CFP: Cultural Exchanges between USSR and Popular Democracies 
(Bucharest, 16-17 Jul16)

Bucharest, Romania, July 16 - 17, 2016
Deadline: Jun 26, 2016

La place du grand frère. Cultural Exchanges Between the Soviet Union and 
the Popular Democracies during the Communist Era

The role played by the USSR in the popular democracies in Central and 
Eastern Europe is both overestimated and underestimated in current 
works. It is overestimated in numerous studies, which consider the 
imposing force of the “Soviet-type model” to have been acquired when 
these countries fell under the Soviet sphere of influence at the end of 
World War II. The mere definition of the model per se was however 
anything but clear; its transplantation had many loopholes and the 
adoption of this model showed significant discrepancies depending on the 
periods and areas taken into consideration. It is underestimated since 
the entire array of exchanges made with the USSR during the socialist 
period have rarely been fully considered, given that the USSR was one of 
the main destinations chosen by the various players of the socialist 
stage. This historiographical situation of both over- and 
under-estimation may be explained, to a large extent, by the sources 
mobilised at the time: on the one hand, the discourse celebrating the 
collaboration with the Soviet “big brother” and, on the other hand, the 
accounts made after 1989, which often fail to mention the connections 
with the USSR (favouring the ones with the Western world). Another two 
factors which also interfered with the historiographical reflexion were 
the emphasis placed on the memories of the big geopolitical crises which 
led to Soviet military intervention (in 1953 in East Berlin, in 1956 in 
Budapest and in 1968 in Prague), and the evolution of the relations 
between each of these countries and the Russian power following the fall 
of the Berlin Wall.

Through this conference, we propose that this issue be readdressed 
again, and we invite researchers working on the topic of the USSR and 
the popular democracies to debate on the topic so as to reflect on the 
sources and notions used to report such exchanges. We shall focus on 
cultural exchanges in fields such as theatre, literature, music, visual 
arts, architecture and cinematography. The various ways in which the 
Soviet-type model was received replay the whole story of the Soviet 
presence and its versions in the various countries. By bringing together 
the various national histories, we may acquire an overall comparative 
understanding of how each country shaped its own cultural communist 
experience. How can the cultural field support us in rethinking the 
question of the Soviet presence in the East? This international 
conference aims to put the evolutions of the relations between the 
popular democracies and the USSR into perspective though culture. We 
also hope to reach a better understanding of a topic we now know little 
of: did the Soviets have any interest in what was happening within the 
popular democracies? Do we need to consider cultural transfers from the 
popular democracies to the USSR?

The participants are invited to reflect upon several lines of approach:

1. The cultural institutions and policies. Contributions on this topic 
could look into the role of cultural associations, “creative and 
professional unions” or cultural administration institutions, concerning 
activities such as the definition of cultural policies, the 
establishment of cultural agreements, the performance of protocol or 
documentation visits, the transfer of experts, the imposition or the 
reclassification of the artistic or literary creation models.

2. The cultural actors and the cross-border networks. The considerations 
on this topic should emphasise the routes taken by the intellectuals, 
artistes and experts in various cultural fields, or by the 
representatives of administrative and political structures who were 
initiators, mediators or beneficiaries of the exchanges and circulation 
to the East, or those who were excluded from them. The proposals could 
relate to, amongst other things, the biographies of people involved in 
cultural commerce activities, the artistic and intellectual background 
of those trained in the USSR, the cross-border cultural exchange 
network, etc.

3. The dissemination, reception, circulation and re-appropriation of the 
discourses, know-how, practices and goods. The contributions on this 
axis could delve into how the public, the cultural agents or the 
political and administrative authorities perceived the Soviet culture, 
and how the Soviets perceived the culture of its sister-countries, 
respectively. How did the popular democracies accommodate the things the 
Soviets sent to them? What did the collaborations between the various 
countries and the USSR focus on precisely? What were the official or 
clandestine circuits for people and works? What were the advantages or 
disadvantages of the exchanges with the USSR? In which artistic forms 
was the political and cultural power of the “Soviet Big Brother” 
celebrated or challenged?

4. The geography of cultural exchanges. What role was played by the 
Soviet Republics bordering the popular democracies (the Republics of 
Ukraine, Byelorussia and Moldova) in the exchanges with the centre and 
the other countries in the Soviet bloc? Did this movement benefit from 
the geographical proximity? More generally, which cities (besides Moscow 
and Leningrad) and regions in the USSR, and which cities and regions in 
Eastern Europe, were concerned by these exchanges? What does the 
movement map look like for this period?

The paper proposals (title and abstract of a maximum of 500 words), 
accompanied by a short biographical note (a maximum of 10 lines), should 
be submitted before June 26, 2016 to the e-mail addresses: 
popescualinaa at yahoo.fr and luciadragomir at gmail.com. Their acceptance 
will be notified, at the latest, on June 30, 2016.

The working language will be mainly French, but papers in English will 
also be accepted. The conference proceedings will be subject to 
publication. Travel and accommodation expenses will be refunded within 
the limits of the available budget. When submitting a proposal, 
attendees should mention whether they wish to benefit from this refund.

Organising committee:
Jérôme Bazin (Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne University)
Lucia Dragomir (University of Bucharest)
Dragos Jipa (EDSS – CEREFREA Villa Noël, University of Bucharest)
Alina Popescu (ISP - Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense 
University/University of Bucharest)
Caterina Preda (University of Bucharest)

Partner Institutions
Centre Régional Francophone de Recherches Avancées en Sciences Sociales 
(CEREFREA Villa Noël) – Université de Bucarest
Centre de recherche en histoire européenne comparée (CRHEC) – Université 
Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne
Agence universitaire de la Francophonie - Bureau Europe centrale et 
orientale (AUF BECO)
École doctorale francophone en sciences sociales (EDSS – CEREFREA Villa 
Noël) – Université de Bucarest
Institut des Sciences sociales du Politique (ISP) – Université Paris 
Ouest Nanterre La Défense

Scientific committee:
Jérôme Bazin – Lecturer, CRHEC – Paris Est Créteil Val-de-Marne University
Lucia Dragomir – Lecturer, Faculty of  Letters, University of Bucharest
Liliana Deyanova – Professor, Faculty of Sociology, University of Sofia 
« St.Climent Ohridski »
Alina Popescu – Researcher, ISP – Paris Ouest Nanterre la Défense 
University /University of Bucharest
Caterina Preda – Lecturer, Faculty of Political Science, University of 
Bucharest
Jean-Charles Szurek – Research Director, CNRS

Reference / Quellennachweis:
CFP: Cultural Exchanges between USSR and Popular Democracies (Bucharest, 
16-17 Jul16). In: H-ArtHist, Jun 19, 2016. 
<http://arthist.net/archive/13314>.