Art, War and Truth, 13 and 14 February 2014
This conference seeks to explore the deep and enduring biases about war, art and truth which exist in academic scholarship. Over the past century war art and war literature have come to be regarded as holding a unique and privileged relationship with the truth. In popular and scholarly interpretations of war, art has often been seen as having access to the authentic truth about the experience of war. The idea that art, or literature, by its very nature, can provide a truthful representation of war is one of the key reasons painters and writers are still sent to the frontline. Conversely, ‘low’ art, propaganda in particular is regarded as untruthful because it ‘sells’ a war to the public.
The conference seeks to draw together scholars researching the representation of war in various art forms and welcomes papers that explore the relationship between art and truth. Some questions that papers might consider are: what circumstances have lead scholars to see some art as depicting the ‘truth’ of war, and others as merely portraying a constructed reality? At what point does war art segue into propaganda during wartime? Can the truth of war be represented in art and literature?
Location: Australian National University
Dates: 13 and 14 February 2014
Submit proposals of no more than 250 words and a one page CV to both Margaret Hutchison (Margaret.email@example.com) and Emily Robertson (E.Robertson@adfa.edu.au) by the 5th July 2013.
Emily Robertson, University of New South Wales, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Northcott Drive, Campbell, ACT, Australia 2612. Ph: (011) 61 2 6257 0717
Fax: (011)61 2 6268 8879
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