East European and Balkan Travel Writing

The Centre for South-East European Studies, School of Slavonic and East
European Studies, and the AHRB Research Project on East European Travel
Writing 'East Looks West', in collaboration with the British Council, the
British Academy, and the Faculty of History, University of Sofia, are
organizing a three-day WORKSHOP entitled 'Under Eastern Eyes: Travel
Writing from Eastern Europe and the Balkans', to be held in Sofia, in
late March 2005. The event will bring together scholars from across
Europe, the UK and elsewhere to present research on East European and
Balkan travel and travel writing.

The role played by travel writing by Westerners in defining Eastern
Europe and the Balkans (and the West, in opposition to these Eastern
'others') has been much debated recently, but there has been much less
work done on the ways people from the region have travelled, observed and
recorded their impressions - and the implications of these activities.
The workshop will focus on travel and travel writing from the East of
Europe and the Balkans, with the emphasis on two main directions: travel
to the West; and travel to and within the Balkans.  In looking at both
these themes, we are particularly interested in the ways that travel and
travel writing can provide a vehicle for self-definition, whether
individual, national, regional or other, in relation to the people and
places visited.

The organizers plan to publish suitable contributions to the workshop as
part of the 'East Looks West' publishing programme.  For a description of
the AHRB 'East Looks West' project, see www.ssees.ac.uk/eastwest.htm; for
reports from previous sessions of the South-East European workshops, see
www.ssees.ac.uk/seecentre.htm.
If you are interested in making a proposal for publication, but cannot
attend the Sofia workshop, please don't hesitate to write with an
enquiry.

Those interested in participating should send a cover letter and a short
abstract of their potential contribution, accompanied by a brief CV, to
Dr. Wendy Bracewell at w.bracewell@ssees.ac.uk.  The organizers are happy
to discuss possible topics before a formal submission is made. The
deadline for expressions of interest is 1 November 2004.  Participants
will be selected by the organizing committee and will be notified as soon
as possible thereafter.  Limited funding is available to cover travel,
accommodation and expenses; preference will be given to participants
coming from the region.