The German Society for Contemporary Theatre and Drama in English is pleased to announce its 18th Annual Conference (4th-7th June 2009). It will be organised by the Department of English (Prof. Rubik, Prof. Huber) at the University of Vienna and held as a rooming-in conference at the Don-Bosco-Haus, Vienna (13th district).
In the age of globalisation, contacts between different cultural groups have become a common aspect of everyday life. Intercultural competence is now a set requirement for corporate staff, and training courses suggest that intercultural encounters are deserving of the highest attention. However, the resulting challenges to national, ethnic, class and gender identities point to the considerable complexity of encounters between different cultural groups. While intercultural encounters have been conceptualised rather positively as 'multi-culturalism' emphasising the benefits for all participants, theories of the 'clash of civilisations' paint a much darker picture. The number of buzzwords created in recent years in order to articulate aspects of migration and cultural exchange, such as hybridity, cultural diversity, cross- and trans-culturalism, gender performance, and sociological change all testify to an increased awareness of, and interest in, these phenomena among politicians and academics alike.
The 2009 CDE conference aims to examine how contemporary drama and theatre engage in the discourse of interculturality. Starting from a broad concept of culture, topics for papers may include (but are not restricted to)
N.B.: In accordance with CDE's constitutional policy, papers should deal exclusively with contemporary (i.e. post-Beckettian, post-1989) Theatre and Drama in English.
N.B.: Only paid-up members are eligible to read papers at CDE conferences. Membership subscriptions may be taken out or renewed during the conference. For details, please contact the treasurer.