Call for papers

To celebrate its recent admission to ASN, as well as the bicentennial of the Louisiana Purchase and the "Black History Month", the CIRNA research group calls upon all colleagues in the American Studies Network and EAAS tocome to Paris and participate in an interdisciplinary colloquium that will take place the last week of February 2003 (Feb 27-28 and March 1st)on the subject

STEMMING "THE MISSISSIPPI"
(Constructing/deconstructing myth and reality)

This colloquium is NOT intended merely to recapitulate what available knowledge has been gathered over time on the subject of "The Father of Waters", whether it be geographical, historical, hydrological, sociological or economical, but rather to invite reflection on the birth and evolution of the River as a key reference in American culture, as well, consequently, as on its present status. It aims at tracing the construction of the Mississippi as a central historical axis for the identity and growth of the country (territorially, economically, mythically, etc) and at assessing the reality of its importance today.

Central issues that could be considered include the following :

- From the time of early explorations to the present, what evolutions can be identified in the importance of the reality and image of the River ?
- Does contemporary historiography legitimize a critique of its past cultural, ideological and aesthetic functions ?
- How much does "America's great river road" matter today, in sociological and economic terms ?
- Why does the term "Mississippi" seem to have shifted its most immediate semantic contents from the River as a whole to its Southern section and to the state it gave its name to ?
- How important in the evolution of the myth may have been the outcome of the regional rivalry between St Louis and Chicago ?
-Why doesn't one just as readily think of its Upper Course as of its Lower ?
- Is the River as a potential reserve for the sublime a thing of the past, and why ?
- Did (do) European views of the Mississippi contrast with their American counterparts ?
- Can it be affirmed that the River has, over the years, lost its operative mythical and oneiric power and is now, at most, only the object of a "museal" approach ?…

As East/West, North/South dividing line, real or virtual, the Mississippi has exerted a powerful hold on the American imagination. Its division along Blue/Black lines seems to have slipped away early on while its mythology seems to have taken refuge in its southern segment, down to the delta. All the while, however, it left its imprint on a number of aesthetic and artistic configurations, in music, in painting, in literature.

How did the real and imaginary status of the Mississippi rise to existence, under what set of determinations and aspirations, and what is the situation today ? Does the Mississippi still represent anything important in contemporary American culture ? What lasting forms does it seem to have kept in the American (and European) imagination ?

"WHERE, or WHAT, is the Mississippi today ("Where is it at", in … Californian terms) ?" What mythical adherences remain ? How culturally visible is it now ?…

Two hundred years after the Louisiana Purchase, such are some of the questions specialists of all disciplines (history, sociology, literature, visual arts, music, socio-linguistics…) are invited to address in 2003.

Proposals should be directed to Marie-Jeanne Rossignol at the above address before the end of April 2002. No format or length is preferred, but a premium will be given to anything conducive to intense group discussion.
All suggestions will be examined by the organizing committee.

Bénédicte Alliot
Marc Chénetier
Emmanuelle Delanoë
Phulippe Jaworski
Marie-Jeanne Rossignol

Proposals should reach us by April 1st 2002 and be sent to to Marie-Jeanne Rossignol at the address of our Institute (10 rue Charles V, 75004-Paris or by e-mail to "rossignol@paris7.jussieu.fr".