Dear friends and colleagues,

we would like to cordially invite you to the conference Maska a identita v transkulturní perspektivě [Mask and Identity in a Transcultural Perspective], co-organized by the Center for Early Medieval Studies, which will take place on the 25^th and 26^th May 2021 at the University of Hradec Králové.

The registration of conference participants is in progress until 11^th October 2020. We would like to kindly ask all participants – presenters, students, or other interested parties – to fill the registration form; it is necessary for organizational reasons.

Topic of the Conference

The phenomenon of masks appears across various cultures, mostly in conjunction with rituals which help to (self)define a community as well as its individuals. However, there must be a unifying factor behind these many cultural forms of the mask. Afterall, whenever we come across a mask, we can identify it without a hint of hesitation. Veiling and revealing is then related to self-expression and self-understanding: “A mask can hide what the face reveals, but it can also reveal what the face hides.” (Oosten 1994).

Although the forms of masks vary from culture to culture, their basic features remain the same. In most cases, they are attached to a human face. They either represent it or are associated with it. They are either created as an overlay, a replacement, or as a substitute for it. Masks emphasize and mix the basic differences between men and animals, between men and gods, or between men and inanimate objects. At the same time, a mask can be immaterial: behind “imaginary masks”, one can hide a mental or psychological mood. In a figurative sense, the mask can thus become a state of mind. The meaning of masks can be therefore grasped from the psychoanalytic, philosophical, anthropological, artistic, as well as historical approach.

The conference wants to tackle some key questions related to masks, their purpose, and their origin at the intersection of several cultural spheres. How are masks effectively becoming vectors for expressing the identity of an individual in or outside of his culture? From the point of view of art – based on the display of images-masks – they can be a stimulating inspiration for the visual thematization (films, photographs, artworks) of identity and mask. From the point of view of transculturality, the mask can represent the dialectical relationship of partners based on a willingness to understand and overpass cultural otherness. From the point of view of history, the use of a mask in historical circumstances may be relevant. The papers thus intend to analyze the phenomenon of masks and identities from a wide range of perspectives.