The Institute for Macedonian Literature at “Ss. Cyril and Methodius University” in Skopje is marking the 40^th anniversary since its foundation and 100 years since the birth of Blaže Koneski. For this occasion, an international conference, organized by the Institute, will be held under the following title

Macedonian Literary Archive: From Manuscript to Digital Culture

on 29 and 30 June 2021 (Tuesday and Wednesday) in an open area in Skopje and online, in accordance with the situation with the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Institute for Macedonian Literature is honoured to invite you to take part in this conference.

Concept                                   

The achievements so far of the Institute for Macedonian Literature in the area of scientific research of the literary and historical processes, establishing value canons of Macedonian literature and culture throughout a long time interval from 9^th to 21^st century, imposed the need to speak through a contemporary aspect about the Macedonian literary and culture tradition through the centuries.

Following the historiographical, social and cultural introspections, our intention is to examine, through the aspects of the literary archive via the memory and remembrance, the centuries-long continuity of the Macedonian literary tradition through its works, through the shapes of the cultural living and their manifestations in the public space. At the same time, we intend to perceive the representation of the abundance and variety of the literary works no only through the shape of collections, but to perceive the productions as sources and spaces of memory, remembrance and oblivion, as a place for interaction of literary canons, but also reevaluation and redefining in accordance with the new cultural methodological (through intermedia, interdiscoursive and intercultural readings of the Macedonian literature and its development). We direct the aspects towards the ways in which those archives and canons are under the influence of history and traditions, of contexts, interactions through the processes and changes, their relation with other literatures and cultures in the sphere of literary memory and its transformation. On the basis of various discourses, whose basis is the Macedonian literary and cultural archive: customs, oral histories, literature, film, it is our intention to project the perception about how memory determines the influence of the past on the present and vice versa: what is the position of the present on understanding and interpretation of the past. The question of collective memory and its interference and transformation with literature is interwoven with history and collectivities, with custom practices, with rituals, with characteristic narratives related to the social relations etc., and the essential question is the question of the connectedness of literary memory and identity (national, class, gender, etc.), thus enabling national branding of cultural tradition.

The mutual view of the written heritage of the Macedonian folklore, of the literature of the revival and the contemporary Macedonian literature in all genres allow for them to be also examined in intercultural context, through comparative reveiws on close tendencies in the European and other literatures.

Because of the relevance of these situations in the contemporary social and political context, we initiate a debate in which we propose the following themes as separate orientation points:

• Written and literary-historical archive: memory and tradition, collective and individual creative work, Macedonian linguistic editing in favour of national branding, canon-noncanon works / intersection of the canons, structures and models in creative works.
• Folklore archive: the memory of the community expressed through the folk or collective knowledge (folklore), rituals and customs and primordial organizational shapes of memory, Macedonian folklore and contemporary Macedonian literary tradition.
• The literary archive of Blaže Koneski (on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary of his birth): cultural icon, national branding of the cultural tradition; Koneski and the shapes of literary connection: folklore and contemporary literature.
• Contemporary literary archive: contemporary Macedonian literature and its correspondence with the images and language of collective memory, national and universal literary narrative, literary icons and literary tradition, the relation between Macedonian and other literatures and cultures.
• Digital archive: digital national archives: literature, folklore, music, film, digitalization and manuscripts; the new media and their influence on the contemporary literature and culture; digital transformation – digital era.

We expect your submission with a topic from the area of your scientific and cultural interest.

The deadline for submissions is until 30 March 2021 on one of the following addresses: maclit@iml.edu.mk / iml.kult@gmail.com.

Languages of the conference

Macedonian and English language or any of the other Slavic languages, in accordance with a previous agreement with the organizer.

The texts will be published in a separate volume of Proceedings.

Organizational Board: dr. Maja Jakimovska-Tošić, director (president), dr. Nataša Avramovska (member), dr. Ilija Velev (member), dr. Loreta Georgievska-Jakovleva (member), dr. Ana Martinoska (member), dr. Valentina Mironska-Hristovska (member), dr. Jasmina Mojsieva-Guševa (member), dr. Sonja Stojmenska Elzeser (member), dr. Sarita Trajanova (secretary) and MA Biljana Jonovska-Stefkovska (secretary).

Sincerely,

Director and President of the Organizational Board

Prof. dr. Maja Jakimovska-Tošić