The research group “Red-Letter Days in Transition” invites proposals for papers on topics relevant to the research project “Red-Letter Days in Transition. Calendric Public Rituals and the Articulation of Identities: Central Europe and the Balkans 1985 to the Present”. Preferred topics will include national days, commemorative holidays and politically significant red-letter days; however, the scope need not be restricted to these specific days.

Papers should focus on public discourse relating to these red-letter days and their role in the transition period, rather than on their ethnographic content, and should preferably be based on primary sources from the region. We particularly encourage text-oriented approaches. We are also interested in the theoretical underpinnings of studying red-letter days in the transition period.

Submission deadline: June 1, 2009.

For information on the research project, please see http://www.hf.uio.no/ilos/forskning/forskningsprosjekter/kor/index.html

We welcome contributions in all disciplines relevant to the project. The organizers of the workshop will attempt to secure publication of selected papers.

Proposals should be submitted for a 20-minute presentation delivered in English plus 10-minute discussion.

Abstracts should be at most 1 page in length, including examples and references, using a 12pt font with 1-inch (2.5 cm) margins on all four sides. All examples and quotations in the languages of Central Europe and the Balkans must be translated into English.

Submissions in English (in pdf format) should be sent to the following address:
a.m.banach@ilos.uio.no

There is no participation fee, and refreshments and a light lunch is provided on both days. Travel and accommodation is at the participants' expense.

Important dates:
— Submission deadline: June 1, 2009
— Notification of acceptance: June 19, 2009
— Workshop dates: November 7–8, 2009