I International Conference Atlantic Communities: Translation, Mobility, Hospitality

By netec Atlantic Communities

"I International Conference Atlantic Communities: Translation, Mobility, Hospitality"
17-18 September 2015
Fundación Barrié, Vigo.
Conference Website

This past September, the harbour city of Vigo, traditionally an important site of migration and socioeconomic exchange, hosted the I International Conference Atlantic Communities: Translation, Mobility, Hospitality (Fundación Barrié, 17-18 September). The event was a joint initiative of Teresa Caneda Cabrera (UVigo), Rui Carvalho Homem (U Porto) and David Johnston (Queen’s U Belfast) and was organized by members of the UVigo NETEC research group, Martín Urdiales Shaw, Jorge Figueroa Dorrego, Araceli González Crespán and José Carregal Romero.

Seeking to address the growing interest in the Atlantic as a transnational and cross-cultural space of transit, the conference brought together scholars from the social sciences and the humanities who embarked on fruitful dialogues about confluences and encounters between communities and individuals on both sides of the Atlantic.

This two-day conference was structured around twelve panel sessions on specific, yet extremely varied, topics such as: knowledge flows and the “Global” Atlantic; women’s trans-Atlantic writing; migration; travel fiction; epistolary texts; diasporic literature; music; photography; cinema and theatre and also mass media and communication in trans-Atlantic relations. The notion of a “common” Atlantic identity within contemporary political and socioeconomic scenarios was explicitly challenged in the presentation of the Research Project “Atlantic Future”.

Lively discussions followed the plenary lectures by Professor Charles Forsdick (U Liverpool) and Michael Cronin (Dublin City U) who distinctively focused on the movement and circulation of cultural products and offered exceptionally engaging explorations of translation, mobility and hospitality across the Atlantic. The Conference also offered a venue for the remarkable readings of writers Evelyn Conlon (Not the Same Sky, 2013) and Owen McCafferty (Titanic, 2012).

With stimulating conversations over coffee breaks, receptions and dinner, the event did succeed in generating a sense of fellowship and community. The organizers of the Vigo conference look forward to future Atlantic encounters whether in Porto or Belfast.