We, Noémie Étienne, De Gruyter Publishing house, and me invite warmly to publish your studies with us – on the pursuit of TRACES of the past in the contemporary. A new book series in three languages!

Grasping traces means understanding past events, seizing absences, questioning the present, and apprehending the coming of potential futures. Traces are found in languages and rituals, in recipes and practices, in art and culture. For instance, they are the little scars to be seen on a repaired porcelain teacup; the empty space left once a monument has been taken away; the fragments of a broken ship; the transformed landscape after a settlement has been dismantled. We aim to explore such traces and their readings, because they play a role in inventing and authorizing communities.

Thus, we are concerned with biographies of objects, the creation of heritage, the (contested) role of museums and memorials, and how images convey snippets of the past. Finally, we explore the interconnections of different temporalities, and underline how the past is part of the present and the future.

This tri-lingual series (EN/FR/GER) welcome in particular studies and essays about narratives and actions in public space and/or scholars, authors and artists actively engaging with a broader audience. We believe that grasping such traces is part of different research traditions, inside and outside of academia. Our approach is a transdisciplinary one, because trace readings is a basis of multiple disciplines, such as art history, history, anthropology, or divination. Thus, the series consider texts centered around material culture, architecture, art, monument, counter-monument, discourses, and performances, with no chronological nor geographical limitations.

All texts are submitted for review to at least 2 members of our Advisory Board. We welcome proposals and submissions in English, French, or German.

More information: https://www.degruyter.com/serial/traces-b/html