Exchange and Circulations: Cultural Contacts and Processes of Transfer
Conveners: Charlotte Krauss (IKG 56, Freiburg University) and Clara Royer (CEFRES).
Within the last 30 years, the research on cultural transfer – with its emphasis on processes of selection, distribution and reception – has proven itself as a productive research area. The questions concerning the responsibility of actors, paths of communication and rooms of encounters and transfers have taken on greater significance. The semantic reinterpretation of cultural objects, as a result of every transfer, has been proven to be an essential part of the analysis in reference to the aspects of time and space. Depending on the context, cultural goods take up different meanings, and thus the change of setting (dépaysement) can be used as a key term in the study of transfer.
Although Germany and France were first the focus of interest, the paradigm of cultural transfer nowadays has been expanded to other regions, which previously had been examined only peripherally (Scandinavia, Eastern Europe, Latin America, etc.). The research of cultural relationships is a core theme of CEFRES (French Research Center in Humanities and Social Sciences) in Prague and of the International Graduation School 1956 “Cultural Transfer and Cultural Identity” of the University Freiburg, which is primarily researching the relationships between Germany and Russia beginning from the late 17th century. The workshop “Exchange and Circulations,” which is organized with the cooperation of both institutions, focuses on the topic of cultural exchange and theoretical concepts, and is looking forward to receiving proposals that may relate to the following areas:
- Circulation of cultural goods and artifacts
- Actors and networks of cultural transfer
- Spaces of exchange: Voyages, migration, professional networks, etc.
- Theoretical concepts and methods of transfer
Length of papers: 20 minutes.
Language: English.
Cécile Guillaume-Pey: Research & CV
From Spirit to Letter. Modes of Appropriating Script among Tribal Groups in India
Research Area 1: Displacements, “Dépaysements” and Discrepancies
Contact: cecile.guillaume-pay@cefres.cz
From the 18th century on among colonized populations, many systems of graphic signs were born in the frame of nascent religious movements. Such was the case among the Soras, a tribal group in Central Eastern India. At the end of the 1930s, a Sora school teacher came up with a script, whose letters each materialize a deity, and which came to be worshiped by the believers of the religious movement founded by him. As this holy alphabet spread, new forms of liturgy came into being and the transmission modes of ritual skills were redesigned. This research aims at understanding how an intrument of power-knowledge such as writing was reshaped by the ritual landscape in which it was rooted, and at assessing the extent to which such a medium, creatively reappropriated by the actors who got hold of it, contributes to redefining their religious practices and representations. The various forms of resistance stirred by this new way of apprehending the divine, should also be appraised—from both a social and cognitive point of view. Based on an ethnography led amidst a community, where script was first and foremost used for ritual purposes, this comparative study will appraise contexts of creation, dissemination and uses of graphic systems invented among tribal groups in 19th century India.
CV
Current situation
Associated to Centre d’Anthropologie Sociale (LISST, UMR 5193, CNRS-EHESS, Jean Jaurès University)
Education
2012: Qualification to become a university assistant professor in section 20 (Ethnology) of the University National Council (C.N.U.).
2011: PhD in Anthropology – École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Dissertation title: Du sang à l’écriture. Les pratiques rituelles des Sora (un groupe tribal du centre-est de l’Inde. Under the supervision of Marine Carrin (CNRS). Thesis jury: J-P. Albert, A. De Sales, M. Carrin, G. Tarabout, G. Toffin. With the degree “très honorable avec félicitations du jury” (summa cum laude).
2005: 2nd year of MA in Anthropology – École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales. Mention très bien (equ. UK 1st class degree), top of class.
2004: MA in Philosophy – Toulouse 2 Le Mirail University.
2003: 1st year of MA in Anthropology – Toulouse 2 Le Mirail University.
2003: BA in Philosophy – Toulouse 2 Le Mirail University.
2002: BA in Ethnology – Toulouse 2 Le Mirail University.
Grants and Fellowships
- Post-doctoral research grant, Yale Institute of Sacred Music (2014-2015).
- Post-doctoral research grant, Fondation Fyssen (2012-2013).
- PhD grant at EHESS (2005-2008).
- Grant of Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art (2006).
Professional Experience
2014–2015: Lecturer at Yale Department of Religious Studies.
2014 (Summer semester): Part-time lecturer at University College Cork. Courses: “Indigenous religions” (BA), “Research methods and fieldwork project” (MA).
2012–2013: Post-doctoral researcher at Fyssen, University College Cork and Queen’s University Belfast. Organization of a workshop on “Indigenous Aesthetics and Marginalised Systems of Knowledge”. Co-organizer of a weekly research seminar (for MA and PhD students). Participations in the MA seminar “Deities, Devotion and Disciplines in Indian Religions”.
2009–2011: Organization of lecture cycles on India and teaching at Toulouse 2 Le Mirail University and at Université du Temps Libre et l’Université Populaire de Philosophie.
2005–2008: “Allocataire de recherche et monitorat” at Toulouse 2 Le Mirail University. 3 year-long PhD grant; 64 yearly teaching hours.
Research Field
- India, tribes
- Religion and identity assertions
- Aesthetical practices
- Ritual performances
- Transmission of knowledge
- Script inventions and practices
Publications
Articles in peer-reviewed journals
- “Pots-esprits et peintures-maisons chez les Sora”, in La Force des objets, Archives de Sciences Sociales des Religions (forthcoming).
- “Corps de pierres, chants et grognements”, in « La puissance divine. Actes du colloque international en hommage à Jean-Pierre Vernant », Bibliothèque de l’École des Hautes Études, Sciences Religieuses (BEHE) (forthcoming).
Chapters in Collective Works
- “Whose Centre? Gonasika, a Tribal Sacred Place and a Hindu Centre of Pilgrimage”, in M. Carrin & L. Guzy (eds.), Voices from the Periphery. Subalternity and Empowerment in India, Routledge, 2012, p. 182-202.
- “From blood to scripture. Religious conversions and the making of identity among the Sora (a scheduled tribe from Orissa-Andhra Pradesh border)”, in M. Carrin, G. Toffin & P. Kanungo (eds.), The Politics of Ethnicity on the Margins of the State: Janajati/Adivasis in India and Nepal, Primus, 2014, p. 223-239.
- “From ritual images to Animated Movies. The transformative journey of Sora paintings”, in U. Skoda, B. Lettmann & N. Kumar (dir.) Mapping Visualities: India and its Visual Cultures, SAGE (in press).
- “Between village and school, Transmission of ritual knowledge among the Sora young generation”, in M. Carrin et D. Blanc (eds.), Transfer of Knowledge and Children Agency: Rebuilding the Paradigm of Socialization, Primus (in press).
- “Du rituel au dessin animé. Trajectoires d’images divines chez les Sora de l’Andhra Pradesh (Inde)”, in R. Rousseleau (ed.), L’art d’être autochtone : figure du tribal et figurations tribales en Inde (forthcoming).
Dictionary Entry
- “Ecritures révélées contemporaines”, in R. Azria, D. Hervieu-Leger, D. Iogna-Pratt (eds.), Dictionnaire dynamique des faits religieux. Vocabulaire des sciences sociales du religieux (submitted).
Book Reviews
- “M. Houseman, Le rouge est le noir. Essais sur le rituel (Toulouse, Presses Universitaire du Mirail, 2012)”, L’Homme, n° 207-208, 2013.
- “A. Kedzierska-Manzon, Chasseurs mandingues. Violence, pouvoir et religion en Afrique de l’Ouest (Paris, Editions Karthala, 2014)”, Archives de sciences sociales des religions (in press).
Summary of the PhD dissertation
- C. Guillaume-Pey, « Du sang à l’écriture. Les pratiques rituelles des Sora, une tribu du centre-est de l’Inde », Archives de sciences sociales des religions, n° 160, 2012, p. 309-358.
Czech-French Seminar in History – FF UK & CEFRES
Since 2007, CEFRES has teamed up with the Institute of Czech History of the Faculty of Arts (Charles University in Prague) around a weekly seminar in history. Open to Prague’s French-speaking students and to Erasmus students from France, the seminar hosts French historians around a unifying theme chosen every semester.
The theme for Winter Semester 2015-2016 is: “Travel and Communication”.
See the program for the seminar and the workshop.
See the program of CEFRES sessions.
See on FF UK’s website.
Lara Bonneau: Research & CV
Research Area 2 – Norms & Transgressions
Contact: bonneau[@]flu.cas.cz
Lara Bonneau is a researcher at the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic (FLÚ – AV ČR) and since February 2023 an associate researcher at CEFRES. Her research focuses on the German Science of Art (Kunstwissenschaft) and more generally on the function of symbolic forms in the individuation process, drawing on the German (Cassirer), Czech (Patočka) and French (Simondon) traditions. Her work contributes to CEFRES’s research area 2.
CV
Education:
- 2019: PhD in Philosophy, Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne University. Title of dissertation “Reading Aby Warburg in the light of his Fragments on Expression”
- 2011: ‘Agrégation externe’ in philosophy
- 2010: Master’s degree in contemporary Philosophy at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University
- 2009: BA in French Modern Literature, Paris IV – Sorbonne University
- 2007: BA in Philosophy, Paris I – Panthéon Sorbonne University
Academic positions and teaching experience:
- 2023- : Researcher (vědecká asistentka) at the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic, associate researcher of the CEFRES.
- 2019-2022: Post-doctorate at the Institute of Philosophy of the Academy of Science of the Czech Republic.
- 2015-2019: Lecturer, Vysoká Škola Ekonomická in Prague (High School of Economy)
- 2012-14: Philosophy teacher at Lycée Etienne Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire in Paris
- 2013-14: Cinema workshops at Forum des Images, Paris
- 2011-12: Philosophy teacher at Lycée Montchapet in Dijon.
Publications:
Monograph:
- Lire l’oeuvre d’Aby Warburg à la lumière de ses Fragments sur l’expression Dijon: presses du réel, 2022
Contributions to edited volumes:
- “Forme et expression dans les oeuvres de Heinrich Wölfflin et Aby Warburg”, in L’histoire de l’art et ses concepts, dir. Danièle Cohn, Rémi Mermet, Paris, editions Rue d’Ulm, 2019, p. 85-105
- “De l’évidence à l’abstraction. Lecture croisée de Fernando Gil et Aby Warburg autour du concept d’orientation”, in Logique de la forme, dir. E. Beauron, O. Capparos, Paris, Garnier classique, 2019, p. 173-186
- Glossary for the French scientific edition of Aby Warburg’s Fragments sur l’expression, Paris, l’écarquillé, 2015, p. 336-338
Articles in peer-reviewed journals:
- « Emil Utitz et la science de l’art », Recherches germaniques, n°52, 2022, p. 73-90.
- « Le monstre comme forme causale originaire : sur la théorie de l’expression d’Aby Warburg », Les Cahiers philosophiques de Strasbourg, 49 | 2021, p. 159-180.
- « La raison saisie par l’affect » : Une lecture de Giordano Bruno par Aby Warburg, Phantasia, 11, 2021, p. 41-55
- « Původ jazyka a antropologie, Vliv Herdera a Humboldta na Franze Boase » in Reflexe : Filosofický časopis, 59/2020, p. 105-125
- « Angoisse, mélancolie et individuation : une généalogie du sujet moderne entre histoire de l’art et philosophie », Tracés. Revue de Sciences humaines, 38 | 2020, p. 31-43
Translations: (Czech to French)
- Dictionnaire des penseurs et de la pensée de l’Europe du Centre-Est depuis 1945. (ed. Chantal Delsol, Joana Nowicki) Paris : Cerf, 2020.
- « La châsse reliquaire de Saint Maur », International exhibition of the Narodní Pamatkový Ústav, Praha- Pařiž- Florennes, 2020-2021.
- « Jan Palach ’69 », Exhibition at the Czech Center in Paris (dir. Jiří Hnilica), January 2019
Book reviews:
- On « Bernadette Collenberg-Plotnikov: Die Allgemeine Kunstwissenschaft (1906-1943). Idee – Institution – Kontext », Regards croisés, 2022.
- “Trilles, arabesques et métaphores” on « L’ornement », Cahiers philosophiques n°162, Vrin, 2020, La vie des Idées, 22 juin 2022 https://laviedesidees.fr/Trilles-arabesques-et-metaphores.html
- Jean-Hugues Barthélémy, Simondon. Paris : Les Belles Lettres, 2014, Carnets de recherche du CEFRES, January 2016
- Pierre Montebello, L’autre métaphysique, Paris, Desclée de Brouwer 2003, rééd. Presses du réel, 2015, Carnets de recherche du CEFRES, June 2016.
Monika Brenišínová: Research & CV
From Monastery to Man – the Meaning of Monastic Architecture and its Art in 16th Century New Spain
Research Area 1: Displacements, Dépaysements and Discrepancies
This research project explores monastic architecture in New Spain in the 16th century. It aims at presenting this architecture and its artistic ornamentation as kept in mural painting and et sculptures in relief, while assessing the impact of this architecture on the conquest and colonization of ancient Mexico from the viewpoint of colonial society and that of the individual. Methodology therefore combines classical historical methods (research in archives) and those of art history (along the lines defined by E. Panofsky), with anthropological concepts (such as A. van Gennep’s rites of passage, V. Turner’s notions of liminality, structure and communitas). The study is based on the data collected in Central Mexico in 2013 with the financial support of Mexico government. As a full part of this project, my aim is to create a databank of photographs of Mexican monasteries.
CV
Education and Diplomas
2011-2017: PhD studies at the Center of Ibero-American Studies of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague, under the supervision of Dr. Markéta Křížová, Ph.D. Dissertation title: Del convento al hombre. El significado de la arquitectura conventual y su arte en la Nueva España del siglo XVI.
2009–2011: Master at the Center of Ibero-American Studies of the Faculty of Arts of Charles University in Prague, under the supervision of Dr. Markéta Křížová, Ph.D. Dissertation title: Význam představ o konci světa v procesu dobývání a kolonizace Ameriky
2003–2008: BA at the Faculty of Human Sciences of Charles University in Prague, under the supervision of PhDr. Blanka Altová. Work title: Význam zobrazení Posledního soudu v české nástěnné malbě 14. století
1997–2003: Baccalauréat at the Jan Neruda highschool, Prague, French-Czech bilingual section
Complementary education
- 2018: Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
- 2017: Study and research stay at the Iberoamerikanishe Institut, Berlin, Germany
- 2015: Study and research stay at the Archivo General de la Nación a Archivo Histórico de BNAH (Fondo Franciscano), Mexico
- 2015: Study and research stay at the Iberoamerikanishe Institut, Berlin, Germany
- 2013: Research stay at the Universidad Michoacana in San Nicolás de Hidalgo, Mexico
- 2013: Study and research stay at the Iberoamerikanishe Institut, Berlin, Germany
- 2010: Study and research stay at the Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey, Mexico
- 2003: TYRKYS, Trade school on tourism, Prague, Guide of Prague
Grants
- 2015/2016: CEFRES grant
- 2013: Hlávkova nadace Foundation grant
- 2013: Mexico Government grant
- 2010: Hlávkova nadace Foundation grant
- 2004-2006: grant of the Faculty of Human Sciences of the Charles University in Prague
Teaching
- 2017/2018: Seminar (history)
- 2017/2018: Power of Images. Visual Sources in Humanities
- 2017/2018: History of Latin America – Conquista
- 2017/2018: Art History of Latin America I, Art History of Latin America II
- 2016/2017: Art History of Latin America I, Art History of Latin America II
- 2014/2015: Art History of Latin America
- 2013/2014: Art History of Latin America – BA and MA levels – Center of Ibero-American Studies (FF UK)
Lectures
- 2016-2018: “Smrt z antropologické perspektivy a její vnímání v současnosti (ČR a Mexiko)”, University in Ostrava
- 2016-2018: “Smrt a její reprezentace ve výtvarném umění Starověku a Novověku”, University in Ostrava
- 2015: “Mexické kláštery. Na pomezí mezi pohanstvím a křesťanskou vírou”, Museum of Decorative Arts in Prague
and Gallry of Moravia, Brno - 2014: “Kukuřiční lidé. Umění evangelizace Nového Španělska 16. století”, ÚDU AV ČR, Prague
- 2013: “Barokní architektura v Novém Španělsku 16. století”
- 2012: “Aztékové včera a dnes”, Regional Museum and Gallery of Křivoklátsko
- 2012: “Internetové stránky SIAS FF UK v Praze”
Research Activities
- 2016: “Transnational and national migration: experiences from Czech Republic and Norway”, NF-CZ07-ICP-3-3352015, coordinateur : PhDr. Vendula Hingarová, Ph.D.
- 2015: “Christianizing Architecture and its Meaning for the Conquest and Colonization of the New World”, FF UK intern grant
- 2014: “Art History of Latin America Histoire de l’art de l’Amérique latine”. Intern call of FF UK for development programs. Senior researcher: Dr. Markéta Krížová, Ph.D.
Coordination and Conception of Conferences
- 2018: conference “Género, política y religion en España e Iberoamérica: una perspectiva a largo plazo” in partnership with SIAS FF UK and Universidad Nacional de Madrid, Prague
- 2017: “(Trans)missions: Monasteries as Sites of Cultural Transfers”, conference in partnership with Střediska ibero-amerických studií, CEFRES, ÚDU AV ČR
- 2017: “BRASIL 2017”, conference in partnership with Department of Portuguese, ÚRS and SIAS FF UK
- 2016: workshop “Vystěhovalectví do Latinské Ameriky a písemné prameny v třeboňském archivu”
- 2012: “Česko-brazilské a česko-španělskoamerické vztahy: exkurze do západních Čech s workshopem”. With Simona Binková and Petr Polakovič, West Bohemia (Kynžvart – Karlovy Vary – Jáchymov – Nejdek)
Conferences and Workshops
- 2018: “Arte de evangelización desde la perspectiva de género”, conference “Género, política y religion en España e Iberoamérica: una perspectiva a largo plazo” in partnership with SIAS FF UK and Universidad Nacional de Madrid
- 2018: “Conventual Architecture in Mexico seen from Anthropological Point of View”, conference “Search for Indian America 2”, in partnership with Department of Ethnology and University Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava
- 2018: “Conventos de Nueva España vistos desde Praga”, symposium “No sólo 95 años de relaciones diplomáticas” SIAS FF UK
- 2017: “Mexické kláštery na pomezí mezi historií dějinami umění a antropologií”, conference “Architektura mezi myšlenkou a skutečností”
- 2016: “Klášterní umění Nového Španělska 16. století: umění na hranici kultur a vědeckých disciplín”, conference of ÚDU FF UK “Překračování hranic. Mezioborovost, migrace a mobilita v dějinách umění a příbuzných oborech”
- 2016: “The (16th Century Mexico) Architecture of Conversion. Problems and Responses”, Epistemological Seminar of CEFRES
- 2016: “Architecture and art as an historical source: on the border of humanities and social sciences”, Interdisciplinary Seminar, CEFRES Library
- 2015: “Sixteenth Century Mexican Architecture: the Circulation of Forms and Ideas Between Europe and America”, workshop “Exchange and Circulations: Cultural Contacts and Processes of Transfer, Freiburg University” – CEFRES and Charles University in Prague
- 2015: “Architektura konverze v procesu dobývání a kolonizace Nového Španělska”, conference “ArtHist 2015: Umění v prostoru / Prostor v umění”, ÚDU FF of Palacký University in Olomouc
- 2014: “Millénarisme des ordres mendiants en Nouvelle Espagne du XVIe siècle et ses manifestations dans l’art et l’architecture”, conference “Circulation as a Factor of Cultural Aggregation: Relics, Ideas and Cities in the Middle Ages”, seminar in partnership with University of Lausanne and ÚDU AV ČR
- 2013: “Ikonografie mexického metra”, lecture “Vizuální studia – věda, umění, instituce”, FSS MU in Brno, “Reprezentace eschatologických představ v klášterní architektuře Nového Španělska 16. století “, “Umění a politika: IV. sjezd historiků umění”, FF MU in Brno
- 2011: “La representación del Juicio Final en la Nueva Espana del siglo XVI”, lecture “Jornada de hispanistas”, Palacký University in Olomouc
- 2011: “Význam zobrazení Posledního soudu v klášterní architektuře Nového Španělska 16. století”, conference “Vizuální studia – věda, umění, instituce”, FSS MU in Brno
Professional Activities
2017-: Researcher at SIAS FF UK, Prague
2015– Executive editor of the yearbook Ibero-Americana Pragensia of the Center of Ibero-American Studies of Charles University in Prague
2015: Member of Academic Senate, FF UK
2012–2017: Administration of the official website of the Center of Ibero-American Studies (FF UK)
2012–2017: Editor of the magazine in humanities Člověk, FF UK
2011–2012: French tutor, Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague
2006–2018: French tutor, Prague British School
2006–2007: French tutor, Tutor, s.r.o., Prague
2004-2006: Evaluation of diploma thesis on philosophy, FHS UK
2004-2006 : French tutor, DDM Prosek, Prague
Publications
- Brenišínová, M.: “The 16th-century Mexican Monasteries and Art. An Anthropological Perspective”, Ethnologica Actualis 1/2018, Trnava: Univerzita sv. Cyrila a Metoděje, ISSN 1336-569X (v přípravě)
- Brenišínová, M.: “Mexican Monasteries and Processions. The Transmission of Ideas between the Old and New World”, in: M. Brenišínová a L. Panušková (eds.), Transmissions: Monasteries as Sites of Cultural Changes, Praha: Nakladatelství FF UK, (v přípravě). Brenišínová, M. a Křížová, M.: Dějiny umění Latinské Ameriky, Praha, Nakladatelství Karolinum, 2017. ISBN 978-80-24631-75-2
- Brenišínová, M.: „Mexické Kláštery na pomezí mezi historií, dějinami umění a antropologií“, in: Jan Galeta a Martin Šolc (eds.), Architektura mezi myšlenkou a skutečností, Brno: Seminář dějin umění FF MU, (v tisku)
- Brenišínová M.: „Klášterní umění Nového Španělska 16. století: umění na hranici kultur a vědeckých disciplín“, in: Překračování hranic, mezioborovost, migrace a mobilita v dějinách umění, 2017, (v tisku)
- Brenišínová M.: „Mexické kláštery na pomezí mezi pohanstvím a křesťanskou vírou“, Dějiny a současnost 2/2017, Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové Noviny, s. 36-39. ISSN 0418-5129
- Brenišínová M.: „Sixteeenth-century Mexican Architecture: Transmission of Forms and Ideas between the Old and New World“, Historie-Otázky-Problémy 1/2016, Praha: Nakladatelství FF UK, 2016, s. 9-24. ISSN 1804-1132
- Brenišínová M.: „Jak se dostat do San Cosme? Systém značení mexického metra“, Dějiny a současnost, Praha: Nakladatelství Lidové noviny, 2015, s. 36-38. ISSN 0418-5129
- Brenišínová M.: „Architektura konverze a její význam v procesu dobývání a kolonizace Nového Španělska“, in: J. Macháčková, M. Pavelková Rýdlová a S. Soušková (eds.), Umění v prostoru prostor v umění (=Zprávy Vlastivědného muzea v Olomouci – SUPLEMENTUM), Olomouc: Univerzita Palackého v Olomouci, 2015, s. 104-110. ISBN 978-80-85037-74-6
- Brenišínová M.: „Iconography of the Mexico City Metro“, Sociální studia 12, Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2015, s. 75-92. ISSN 1214-813X
- Brenišínová M.: „Role křesťanských eschatologických představ a jejich reprezentace v klášterní architektuře Nového Španělska 16. století“, in: O. Jakubec a R. Miltová (eds.), Umění a politika: sborník 4. sjezdu historiků umění, Brno: Masarykova univerzita, 2014, s. 213-235. ISBN 978-80-7485-023-3
- Brenišínová M.: „Millénarisme des ordres mendiants en Nouvelle Espagne du XVIe siecle et ses manifestations dans l’art et l’architecture“, Convivium. Exchanges and Interactions in the Arts of Medieval Europe, Byzantium, and the Mediterranean 1, Brno: Seminarium Kondakovianum Series Nova, 2014, s. 32-48. ISSN 2336-3452
Languages
French: fluent
Spanish: fluent
English: intermediate level (FF UK PhD exam)
Russian: passive knowledge