Please note we have *extended the deadline for abstracts *for the conference MEDIATING THE REAL 2: MEDIATIONS IN A POST-TRUTH ERA featuring keynoted from *Kim Toffoletti* and *Laurie J. Ouellette*. Please submit an abstract for consideration by 1^st August 2017. Also note we have *postgraduate bursaries *available and encourage PhD and MA students to contribute their ideas and work.
A conference at the University of Otago 22nd – 24th November 2017
Presented by The Performance of the Real Research Theme and the Department of Media, Film and Communication
Keynote speakers:
Dr Kim Toffoletti (Deakin University) & Dr Laurie J. Ouellette (University of Minnesota)
‘Post-truth’ has become a buzzword in the last year generating think-pieces and SNS chatter lamenting ‘truth’ as a lost object that has enabled and / or smuggled in events like Brexit and the election of Donald Trump. With this discussion, comes a broader demonstration of anxiety that a true ‘real’ (world, political sphere, social …) has been either lost or obscured. The responsibility for this loss or obscurance has fallen firmly at the feet of ‘the media’ (as well as the so-called postmodernists).
This conference asks and unpacks the interactions of (post) truth, the ‘real’ and contemporary media.
Building on and following from the success of Mediating the Real ‘1’, we encourage critically informed approaches – particularly drawing from the work of Lacan. However, this time too, we invite scholars engaged with Jean Baudrillard’s prolific engagement in these matters.
Papers might ask but are not limited to:
* What does post-truth mean in the contemporary media saturated context?
* A consideration of the increasingly banal use of ‘post-truth’ (as OED word of the year 2016) in news chatter and the implications of this for understandings of ‘truthful’ media
* Where is the real located in this context? This might be through considerations of the Lacanian real and the possibilities for
subjectivity and sociality – particularly in terms of the potential to build social bonds within the ‘discourse of capitalism’
* What does the anguished / anxious response to ‘post truth’, particularly in popular and social media, tell us about contemporary
subjectivity and sociality?
* What do Baudrillard’s critical interventions tell us about the contemporary production of reality?
Postgraduate bursary:
A number of travel and registration bursaries will be available for postgraduate students. These will be allocated on the basis of the merit of submitted abstracts. We *highly encourage *postgraduate researchers to submit their work for consideration.
Key information:
Organisers and contacts:*Dr Brett Nicholls (brett.nicholls@otago.ac.nz) and Dr Rosemary Overell (rosemary.overell@otago.ac.nz) <mailto:rosemary.overell@otago.ac.nz)>
Abstract information: *please email rosemary.overell@otago.ac.nz <mailto:rosemary.overell@otago.ac.nz> a 250-500 word abstract and 150 word biography by *1^st August 2017*.
Registration: *$95 (casual / sessional workers and postgraduates) and $225 (academic and waged workers) – includes cocktail function, lunches and teas
Dinner: * $60
Venue: *Richardson, 6^th floor, Room 4 North
More info:
http://www.otago.ac.nz/performance-of-the-real/index.html
http://www.otago.ac.nz/mfco/index.html
https://www.facebook.com/performanceofthereal
https://www.facebook.com/mediafilmcomms/
Rosemary Overell
Lecturer
Media, Film and Communication
The University of Otago
Dunedin
New Zealand