Beyond a musical happening which appears to ‘unite European people’ via music, the Eurovision song contest, both as a spectacle and as a performative event, allegorically represents the idea of ‘Europe’. Ever since its early years, the contest has become a symbolic realm for performing European identities and re-making European selves. Singing and dancing Europe enacts an interplay of tropes of being local and/or European, while providing an arena for old and new states to imagine their pasts, portray their presents and envision futures. The politics of representation in Eurovision (from the 1960s up to today) may be understood, therefore, in the light of the broader geo-political changes, cultural anxieties and power games defining Europe and the world.
The conference is organized by the Department of History, Archaeology and Social Anthropology of the University of Thessaly (Volos, Greece) in association with the The Society of Ethnomusicology (Special Interest Group for European Music), under the auspices of the Benaki Museum (Athens, Greece).
Keynote speakers
- Philip V. Bohlman (The University of Chicago)
- Martin Stokes (Oxford, St. John's College)
Conference committee
- Mitsos Bilalis (University of Thessaly)
- Eleftheria Deltsou (University of Thessaly)
- Sophia Handaka (Benaki Museum)
- Penelope Papailias (University of Thessaly)
- Dafni Tragaki (University of Thessaly)
Conference location
The conference will be held at the Saratsi Amphitheatre of the University of Thessaly.
Address:
University of Thessaly
Papastratos Building
Argonauton & Fillelinon
38 221 Volos
Greece
Admission is free.
