CULTURAL CONQUESTS 1500-2000 AN INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM PRAGUE, 11.9. - 14.9. 2003 Conquerors of all kinds have made not only political and economic demands on the defeated, but have repeatedly also attempted to impose new cultures on them, and

CULTURAL CONQUESTS 1500-2000
AN INTERNATIONAL COLLOQUIUM
PRAGUE, 11.9. - 14.9. 2003

Conquerors of all kinds have made not only political and economic demands on the defeated, but have repeatedly also attempted to impose new cultures on them, and such attempts to impose a new cultural order were felt nowhere more keenly than in the towns and cities where intellectuals, artists, academics, publicists and other members of the political, social and cultural elites were required to conform. We are interested in the motives for the imposition of a new cultural order, the ways in which citizens resisted or collaborated with the victors or occupying forces, and the ways in which the direct experience of war or civil conflict and military occupation were reflected in a range of cultural forms and practices, from theatre, art and architecture to urban cultures in a broader sense - language, manners, dress etc.

Among the potential themes which papers might address are:

The forcible conversion of citizens to a new faith or confession in the wake of religious conflicts

The attempts to re-invent cultures in the wake of revolution

The cultural consequences, successful or otherwise, of defeat, annexation and incorporation into a hitherto foreign state

Culture and everday life under a foreign power

Papers might look at military occupation and its impact on the civilian population, or compare attempts to annihilate some forms of cultural expression entirely while accommodating others within a broader 'imperial' conformity.


The Colloquium is a collaboration between the Seminar of Comparative and General History at Charles University and the European Urban History Group at the Universities of Newcastle and Northumbria. It will be hosted by the Institute of World History at Charles University in Prague.

Please send a short abstract [c.200 words] of your proposal to Dr Tim Kirk, School of Historical Studies, University of Newcastle, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne NE1, UK: e-mail: T.B.Kirk@ncl.ac.uk from whom further details can also be obtained. Deadline for proposals: April 15th 2003.