University of Turku, Finland
May 17–19, 2017
Abstract Deadline: November 1, 2016
Muhammad
Ali is frequently described as a transcendent figure in sport,
politics, and culture. In scholarship as in popular representations, he
has
often been depicted as the most important cultural icon of the
twentieth century. With his passing in June 2016, Ali’s limitless
impact has been made evident once again. In efforts to pin down the
essence of his significance, questions are being raised about
the truth and authenticity about Ali’s character, career, and legacy in
and out of the ring: Does Ali transcend sport? Does Ali transcend race?
Is Ali the Greatest? Yet no singular view or image of Ali can be
established. With access to new digitized sources
and global perspectives, stories of Ali continue to unfold.
This
symposium, organized by the John Morton Center for North American
Studies, will critically assess the multiple discourses,
representations, and
imagery of Muhammad Ali. The symposium will explore the ways in which
Ali appears in un/expected spaces, beyond conventional readings. We are
seeking to explore such questions as: What is Ali’s twenty-first century
significance? How do we interpret the global
meanings of Ali? Is sport central or peripheral to
understanding Ali? Whose voices and choices depict Ali? How will
commemorations change the legacy of Ali? The symposium calls for
previously unpublished papers or creative works addressing the varied,
often contradictory, meanings and interpretations of Ali:
· in
the Digital Age
· in
Power Relations
· in
Social Theory
· in
Visual Imagery
· in
Storytelling
· in
the World
· in
Memoriam.
Please
email abstracts of 250 words for either paper presentations or creative
works, together with a max. 150-word bio, including name, institutional
affiliation and position, phone number and postal and email addresses,
to jmc@utu.fi by November
1, 2016. For further information, please visit the conference website at:
Organizers: Dr. Benita Heiskanen, email: benita.heiskanen@utu.fi &
Dr. Samira Saramo, email: samira.saramo@utu.fi.
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