Date: 24-25 April 2015
Venue: SEARSOLIN, Masterson’s Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines
Webpage: http://goo.gl/Ukyszv

The Xavier Center for Culture and the Arts (XCCA) and the Department of English and Literature of Xavier University—Ateneo de Cagayan invite papers from folklore scholars, theater practitioners, and performance studies experts who specialize on the dynamics of Mindanaoan folklore, ecology, and/or performance for a national conference to be held at SEARSOLIN, Masterson’s Avenue, Cagayan de Oro City on 24-25 April 2015.

With the changing weather patterns and nature-related disasters taking place in Mindanao and claims on ancestral and historical rights of the indigenous people in the midst of commercialization and usurpation by capitalists through mining, illegal logging, and other related activities, this conference seeks to gather relevant and updated folkloric studies that focus on the ecological aspect of the texts and their possible implications on the lives of the people who own the corpus of folkloric materials. The conference would like to examine the tendencies and changes that the lore goes through faced with such drastic changes and devastating effects on the people in as far as their ecological milieu is concerned.

Because of the dearth of popularization and (re)interpretation, the conference seeks to bridge folklore to one of its most effective popularizing medium which is the theater. The conference also seeks to invite performance studies from theater scholars and practitioners and possibly showcase these performances as, in themselves, studies that are grounded in research and responsible representation of the indigenous peoples of Mindanao. This is also to encourage appropriation and highlight the power of performance to interpret and popularize the folklore of Mindanao.

This revival of interest is a crucial step to unearth the folklore of Mindanao and utilize them as effective materials for a culture-based education in which teachers are encouraged to take up local culture and perpetuate to the memory of the modern Filipino student his pre-colonial literary and cultural heritage so he may better understand his present.

As a special inclusion, the conference is also open to studies on the folklore of Cagayan de Oro as a means of strengthening local literary heritage of the Cagayanon.

While open to different theoretical methods and approaches, studies which will be given strong consideration are those that are geared on exploring the source “environment” of the text and must present relevant and updated perspectives on the relationship of the text to the ecology of the people of Mindanao. Topics on performance studies must specifically describe adaptation and interpretation of folkloric materials into theater performance. Studies may explore, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• • Mindanaoan folklore and the effects of the changing climate
  • Mindanaoan folklore and its relevance to claims on ancestral domains
  • Mindanaoan folklore, mining and industrialization
  • Mindanaoan folklore, its diffusion, migration, and popularization
  • The teaching of Mindanaoan folklore
  • Epics, adaptations and performance
  • Issues on appropriation and representation of the folks and their culture in theater adaptation and performance of their lore

In addition to the paper presentations, one expert in the field of folklore research and another in performance studies will be invited to deliver keynote speeches.

 

Submission of paper proposal

Applicants should submit a 300 to 400-word abstract of their proposed paper to Mr Roger Garcia at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. not later than 17 February 2015 using this Application Form as an attachment.

Applicants will receive an acknowledgment email to confirm receipt of application. Successful applicants will be notified by last week of February 2015 and are given the option to submit a full paper ranging from 3500-5000 words not later than 15 April 2015. Full papers submitted will be considered for publication in a journal. Successful applicants are encouraged to seek fund from their home institution for travel, board, and lodging.