The call for papers for Dragon Tails 2019 – the 6th Australasian conference on Chinese diaspora history and heritage (20-23 November 2019) – is still open.
The Dragon Tails Association is accepting submissions for its biennial conference, which will be hosted by Wai-Te-Ata Press at Victoria Unversity of Wellington.
Proposals are due by Friday 31 May 2019. This will be the final deadline.
Conference theme: Translation and Transformation
Location: Hunter Building, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand
Convenors: Grace Gassin, Duncan Campbell, Karen Schamberger
Conference dates: Wed 20 – Sat 23 November 2019 (Wednesday will be pre-conference tours and events.)
Website: www.dragontails.org.au
Conference outline
Processes of translation and transformation are central to the histories of Chinese diaspora around the world. For the 6th Dragon Tails conference, transformation refers to shifts in ideas, meanings and practices over time and the ways they have impacted Chinese diasporic communities; translation refers to the way people and organisations have interpreted, in a historical sense, significant events, meanings and ideas related to the Chinese diaspora for other audiences. The conference invites papers that explore themes of translation and transformation in the study of Chinese diaspora history and heritage.
The biennial Dragon Tails conference series promotes research into the histories and heritage of Chinese people, their descendants and their associates, in Australasia (Australia and New Zealand). The conferences also encourage awareness of the connections of Chinese in Australasia with the histories of Chinese people, their descendants and their associates in other countries. The convenors therefore strongly encourage papers which both embrace historical methods, topics and debates at their heart and focus squarely on the history of Chinese Australasian communities and their unique experiences.
Within these parameters, the conference encourages papers which interpret the theme in a variety of ways. As a guide, papers might, for example:
- Explore the ways in which Chinese Australasian communities have made sense of old stories, myths and memories across places and generations;
- Investigate the challenges researchers face when seeking to ‘translate’ the past, including those relating to the interpretation of historical sources, such as eye witness accounts, oral histories or official records;
- Discuss the potential for Chinese Australasian perspectives, and events involving them, to become ‘lost in translation’; and the impacts this may have on Chinese Australasians;
- Consider what skills, perspectives and institutions Chinese Australasian communities have acquired while translating their histories for outside audiences;
- Examine the ways in which Chinese Australasian communities, along with their attitudes, ideas and cultural practices, have transformed over time.
The convenors encourage participation from academic, community, local, family, professional, independent and amateur historians, museum workers, archaeologists, heritage workers and professionals from related disciplines or sectors with an express interest in this field of historical research.
Bursaries will be offered to speakers who are currently enrolled postgraduate students. This will allow free registration and a small travel subsidy for those from outside Wellington, NZ. Enquire for details.
Presentations
Papers – Standard session presentations should be 20 mins long (with 10 mins allowed for question time).
Panels – We’d welcome panel submissions. Our suggested formats for the panels is 3 x 20 min papers with a coherent theme.
How to submit a proposal
Proposals should be submitted by sending an email to: dragontailsconferences@gmail.com
Please provide a paper title & abstract (200-300 words), your name, institution (if applicable), contact details & brief bio (100 words max). For panels, please provide a panel title as well as a title/abstract/bio for each speaker. You will be notified by email if your proposal has been successful.