University of Essex, UK
Interdisciplinary Postgraduate Conference:

Interrogating Hearsay: Rumours and Gossip in Historical Perspective, 1500 - 2003.

Rumours are a commonly occurring and prominent form of informal communication, reflecting popular feelings and promoting social and political action. They arise in various contexts and provide a challenging but fruitful opportunity for the study of social and political history and other social sciences. However, although an important part of our daily communication, rumours have not been addressed very often in recent research.

We are interested in what historians and researchers of other social sciences can make of the world's "oldest mass medium" - as Jean-Noël Kapferer has termed the phenomenon of rumour. What significance have rumours had as a medium of communication in societies? How has the official perception of rumours changed over time? What can rumours reveal about communities and their networks of communication? What can they show about otherwise hidden hopes, wishes, and fears?

With respect to the many functions rumours and gossip bear, we would like to suggest some examples of potential subjects which papers might address.

• Rumours in "closed societies"
  Rumours occur in all societies but are especially widespread in societies with a high demand for, but low supply of "official" information. Their circulation is further increased in societies where "official" is not believed to be "credible". This topic may be of particularly interest to scholars who focus on groups and societies with limited flow of information and restricted space for communication. What effects do control and restriction of public communication have on its informal counterpart? To what extent are researchers able to reconstruct the conditions of informal communication in such environments?
• Rumours and violence
  Around spontaneous outbursts of popular violence, or during more organized violent social mobilizations, rumours are often to be found circulating among crowds, sometimes even seemingly directing their actions. What are historians to make of such phenomena? How can rumours in such circumstances best be used or interpreted? What, if anything, can such rumours tell us about the cause of collective violence? Do rumours arise spontaneously, or as part of a deliberate strategy of (mis)communication?
• Rumours and identity
  Rumours construct or threaten identity by creating an "us" group and a - mostly - negatively connoted group of "others". Research into this aspect can contribute to a wider understanding not only of historical but also contemporary forms of informal communication and their consequences in societies. How can rumours undermine or strengthen identities? Why do we believe in rumours, and why do we pass them on to others? What sort of "power" is linked to the knowledge of certain information, how do we decide whom to pass it on to, and what consequences does this have?
• Other possible approaches to this subject might include, for example, gossip and gender, rumours in cultural history, or space and place. We also invite papers on any other theme relating to the study of rumour.

The conference aims at a lively exchange of ideas. Papers should therefore be limited to 20 minutes and will be chaired in sessions allowing additional time for discussion.

The conference language will be English.