Das Van Leer Jerusalem Institute hält vom 22.-23. Mai 2017 eine Konferenz zum Thema ‚Salonica: a multi-cultural city in the Ottoman Empire and the Greek state between the World Wars‚ ab. Der Call for Papers ist bis zum 31. Oktober 2016 offen. (Call for Papers auf MENALIB)
Kernthemen sind:
• The formation of Salonica as an Ottoman city – cultural, social, economical and demographic ramifications.
• Salonica’s languages – Greek, Ottoman Turkish, Ladino, Armenian, Italian, French and interlingual encounters.
• Material culture and visual art: architecture, plastic arts, dress, tombstone engravings, manuscripts etc.
• Mystical traditions in Salonica: Sufi groups, Sabbateans, Kabbalistic and Christian beliefs.
• Conversion and interreligious crossings.
• Literature in and about Salonica: popular literature, poetry, journalism, travelogues and modern literary genres.
• The voices of Salonica: the city’s various musical traditions.
• Educational institutions and textbooks.
• The image of multi-cultural coexistence.
• The rise of Greek nationalism in Salonica.
• The economy as a sphere of inter-communal encounters and competition.
• Significant historical events and their influence on cultural trends among the local population, such as the arrival of the exiles from Spain, the Great Fire of 1917, the Greek-Turkish exchange of populations and the influx of refugees from Anatolia.
• The tanzimat and processes of modernization and change in Salonica at the turn of the 20th century.
• The shaping of Salonica-related myths.
• Intercultural trends in Salonica between the wars.