Call for Papers – Decolonizing Memory? Thinking through Patterns of Memory and Power (Odense, 9–11 December 2026)

We are pleased to circulate the Call for Papers for the Memory Studies Association Nordic Conference & Final Conference of the DFF project Revival of Traumatic Pasts: German and Italian Colonization in Fiction and Memory Activism, to be held at the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, on 9–11 December 2026.

Under the title “Decolonizing Memory? Thinking through Patterns of Memory and Power”, the conference invites reflections on how changing patterns of power and memory shape responses to colonial pasts and their enduring legacies. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

• memories as hope in de- and postcolonial studies
• interdisciplinary or comparative approaches to memories of power
• methodological reflections on memory studies’ connections to coloniality, decoloniality and postcolonialism
• memory activism and mnemonic agency in moments of crisis
• authoritarian regimes’ (mis)uses of memory

Confirmed keynote speakers include David Mwambari, Angelica Pesarini, Charles Burdett, Uoldelul Chelati Dirar, Kirsten Thisted, Karen E. Till, Yuliya Yurchuk and Naja Dyrendom Graugaard.

Scholars interested in participating are invited to send a paper title, a 300-word abstract and a short bio (max 150 words) to dm@sdu.dk by 1 March 2026.

For further information, please visit the conference webpage:
https://www.memorystudiesassociation.org/call-for-papers-msa-nordic-conference-final-conference-of-dff-project-revival-of-traumatic-pasts/