CFP: “Intersections of Resistance in the Space Between, 1914-1945”

The 20th annual meeting of the Space Between Society is partnering with the recently formed Feminist inter/Modernist Association (FiMA) to provide a unique opportunity to forge deeper connections within our research and pedagogy. By combining the mission of each society, we unite in the hopes of rethinking and producing new intersections in scholarship of the WWI, interwar, and WWII periods, especially as they uncover the rich vein of feminist practices across the space between. Central to our conversations at the conference will be this question:

What becomes possible for our understanding of the cultural productions of the space between and of feminist intermodernisms when we begin to look at how various forms of resistance intersect?

Shifts in the world’s political climate have energized humans to re-imagine structures of power that oppress, silence, and immobilize. Those who cultivate communities where diversity, inclusivity, and civil discourse thrive, unite under the term “resistance” to rally against forces that seek to neutralize differences and impose restrictions on civil liberties. Yet, as a term, an idea, and a practice, “resistance” requires critical inquiry. Resistance does not always suggest overhaul or revolution, but rather, invites ways in which existing structures might be reconfigured to make space for multiple voices. Culture makers of the interwar period critiqued the values of both antagonists that led to the ambiguous causes, goals, and unnecessary human losses of WWI. By contrast, writers of WWII called for the activation of humanistic values to defeat the Axis powers’ unambiguous goal of global conquest. Resistance is now back in significant ways, and carries cultural capital that is rich for analysis in our scholarship, our teaching, and our everyday actions.