Our 5th annual online event addresses the theme of ‘sensing euphoric and dysphoric atmospheres’ in festive, celebratory, and ritual cultures. Taking an embodied perspective, we focus on the role of corporeal perception in making sense of lived experience.
With regard to atmospheres, we focus on “the ways in which a multiplicity of bodies [are] part of, and entrenched in, a situation that encompasses it” (Riedel 2019:85). We aim to explore what existential phenomenology can reveal about carnivals, festivals, ceremonies, fetes, fairs, rituals, and other celebrations. Thus, exploring the euphoric and/or dysphoric atmospheres associated with these events and celebrations.
Our theme takes into account shared values, practices, customs, heritage, traditions, continuity, uniqueness, and differentiation within festive and celebratory culture. It is also important to consider the degree to which euphoria and dysphoria can be shared and learned, along with the camaraderie and familial aspects related to them.
Proposals may also address, but are not limited to, the following themes:
• Art, Craft, and Practice
• Carnivals (including Diasporic Carnivals)
• Celebration and Leisure
• Competition, Adjudication, and Legacy
• Costume and the Body
• Creative Industries
• Culture and Politics
• Dance and Performance
• Education
• Embodiment
• Events
• Food Culture
• Community Making (Re-making)
• Literature
• Medieval Culture
• Night Festivals
• Memory, Nostalgia, and Temporality
• Music and Sound
• Tradition and Heritage
• Religion
• Resistance, Resilience, and Activism
• Sporting Celebrations
• Tourism
Abstracts of up to 500-word (only abstracts/papers that have not been previously presented and published will be considered) and biographies of no more than 100 words (in Word .doc format).
Key Dates:
500-word (Word doc. files only) Abstract Proposal Submission Deadline: Extended 20th April 2024
Notification of Acceptance: 27th April 2024
Completed Presentation (optional) Deadline: 1st May 2024
Symposium Date: 2nd June 2024
Riedel, Friedlind, ‘Atmosphere’, in Affective Societies: Key Concepts, ed. by Jan Slaby and Christian von Scheve, eds. (New York: Routledge, 2019), pp. 85-95
