While in May 1945 hope was cherished that wars were a thing of the past, the world
is welcoming the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII with conflicts that have failed
to be prevented, including the war in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, Russia’s armed aggression against Ukraine and the conflict in the Gaza Strip. There is growing concern that the world may soon be facing another collapse of civilisation such as a global war, and that humanity has not learnt any lessons from the tragic events that marked the 20th century. Unfortunately, war seems to be a regular reality, but the new generations are making more efforts to keep peace.

Culture and all its aspects have played an important role in starting and waging wars, as well as in trying to prevent them (from language and literature to theatre, film, painting, music and other cultural phenomena, to historiography, the humanities and social sciences in general). This is particularly true of the different discourses of the politics of culture and remembrance. At many moments in history, culture and the politics of culture, mainly the politics
of remembrance, have often inspired, encouraged or justified war initiatives, leading
to suffering, even to the crime of genocide. On the other hand, it was through culture, cultural politics and the politics of memory that the anti-war discourse of a culture of peace was sought to be organised as the antithesis of a ‘culture of war’.

If we want peace, especially lasting or at least long-lasting peace between people, nations and states, it is imperative to reconsider the Bellona phenomenon as a warning, in view of the consequences that warfare brings: the death toll, expulsions, refugee fate, genocide, urbicide, culturicide, or the irreversible devastation of the environment as a result of the use
of chemical, biological or even nuclear weapons. In addition to theoretical research in the academic arena, discussion of this topic is needed and imposed upon us as a social imperative due to the current post-modern condition of humanity, in the face of new armed conflicts.

This awareness underpins the international and interdisciplinary academic conference Culture and Memory – War and Peace. It aims not only to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII in Europe, but also to further revise cultural discourses, especially the discourse of politics and the culture of memory. The academic community of Poznań, in cooperation with befriended academic centres in Bosnia and Herzegovina, invites to a discussion on the memory of WWII and its aftermath in the respective cultures. As the first victim of the outbreak of WWII, Poland should become a space for discussion and reflection on the war.
In contrast, the still conflict-ridden and politically turbulent area of the Balkan Peninsula, especially today’s Bosnia and Herzegovina, dominated by the ongoing ‘culture wars’ and ‘culture of war’, remains a notable example of political instability in Europe, despite the imminent round anniversary of the Dayton Peace Agreement (1995). Soon it will also
be 30 years since the tragic events of the Srebrenica Genocide (1995).

Based on the assumption that every reflection, even the smallest one, contributes
to peacebuilding, if only in the form of academic and social discussion, in relation to the conference’s general theme, we want to encourage reflection about the following and other similar issues:

·         The culture of memory and the cultural politics of WWII

·         The image of war in culture (heroism, martyrdom, everyday life...)

·         Representation of the memory of WWII

·         Memory of WWII as an impetus for further reflection on war and peace

·         Cultural policy and memory of the Holocaust and genocides

·         War as urbicide and culturicide

·         Women’s experience of war, violence against women

·         War from a child’s perspective

·         War as animal suffering and environmental devastation

·         Culture and memory as a tool of war

·         The role of culture, literature and media in warmongering

·         Language as a tool of war (war rhetoric, propaganda, hate speech…)

·         War ideology in culture, art, literature…

·         Anti-war rhetorics in culture, art, literature…

·         The phenomenon of war and the phenomenon of peace: Peace as an impermanent, temporary state between successive conflicts? Who is victorious and who is defeated?

·         Culture and memory for peace (end of war, ceasefire or necessary compromise?)

·         When does war begin and when does it end? From the battlefield and front line to the space of culture, politics, rhetoric and media

·         The phenomenon of hybrid war

·         The European Union as a peacekeeping project

·         Contemporary threats of new imperialism and colonialism

 

The conference is interdisciplinary in nature, encompassing all disciplines of the humanities and social sciences, and opens to a wide-ranging discussion on the representation of WWII and war memory in language, literature, wider culture and the visual arts.

Conference submissions are accepted until 25 March 2025. Please send the electronic application form to poznan.sarajevo2025@gmail.com.

Downloadable form available at: https://slawistyka.amu.edu.pl/konferencja-kultura-i-pamiec-wojna-i-pokoj/

The working languages ​​of the Conference are Polish, Bosnian, Croatian, Serbian, Montenegrin and other Slavic languages, as well as English.

The conference fee is PLN 500.00 or € 120.00 (for international participants). It includes the organisation of the event and coverage of the costs of publishing the peer-reviewed monograph. Details for payment of the conference fee will be sent to participants after information on acceptance of conference applications around 20 March 2025.

The conference is planned in a hybrid mode: in Poznań, Collegium Maius, 10 Fredry St., and remotely on Microsoft Teams. Final information on the form of participation should
be provided by 25 April 2025.

The Conference Organising Committee:

Prof. Dr. Ewa Szperlik, Organizing Committee Chair, Associate Professor, Department
of South Slavic Literatures

Prof. Dr. Sanjin Kodrić, Organizing Committee Co-Chair, Full Professor, Department
of Literatures of the Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Prof. Dr. Anna Gawarecka, Associate Professor, Department of West Slavic Languages and Literatures

Prof. Dr. Marzanna Kuczyńska, Associate Professor, Slavic Commission of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Poznań

Prof. Dr. Almedina Čengić, Full Professor, Department of Literatures of the Peoples
of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Dr. Magdalena Baer, Organizing Committee Coordinator, Department of South Slavic Languages

Elmir Spahić, MA, Conference Secretary, Department of Literatures of the Peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina