Call for papersRepresentation
Subjects
Art, mediation or intercultural counter-mediation
Art, médiation ou contre-médiation interculturelle
Essays presented to Professor Ngetcham of the University of Dschang
Mélanges offerts au professeur Ngetcham de l’Université de Dschang
Published on Monday, March 02, 2026
Abstract
Art is a form of cultural expression and a mode of mass communication. Through their works and their strong transcultural audience, artists have the ability to build bridges between different cultural communities, where ignorance and political or economic power struggles tend to build barriers. Unfortunately, artists also have the ability to reinforce existing barriers when they lack the intercultural skills needed to step outside their own perspective and immerse themselves in the conceptual frameworks of others. It is this view of art as an activity that straddles intercultural mediation and counter-mediation that should be highlighted here, in a global context marked by a strong resurgence of nationalism and intercultural or inter-ethnic conflicts.
Announcement
Argument
Professor Ngetcham’s professional career is a complex trajectory that brilliantly combines the speculative practice of art criticism, the pedagogical rigour of teaching and the pragmatism of political action. All these skills are the recipe for success of a man who, for three decades, has left his mark on the education of generations of students in the Department of Applied Foreign Languages at the University of Dschang. In terms of research, the issues that resonate as leitmotifs in most of his scientific works are cultural identity, migration-related challenges and literary aesthetics. In this regard, Pour une critique archéologique des arts et des lettres (For an Archaeological Criticism of Arts and Letters) is one of his major works, which proposes to study literature by linking the poetics of texts and archaeology. It involves analysing a work of art or a literary text through the prism of the ’traces’ of basic cultural personalities that sustain individual ways of doing, being and thinking. This approach, which encourages us to delve into the genealogy of a work like an archaeologist, "searches for traces, large or small, that can be read as marks of an era, the foundations of a way of being, acting or thinking [...], it probes attitudes, behavioural patterns or cultural substrates as they can be perceived [...] in the work taken as an excavation site". It thus makes it possible to measure the evolution of mentalities and the phenomena of the era. Even more in line with the spirit of this call for papers, his most recent work entitled André Breton, Writing, Rhetoric, and Archeology of Style (2025) posits that “the arts of speaking, thinking, and painting, like all gastronomy, choreography, or image framing, as well as media interactions, bear the marks of ways of being, thinking, or doing that are inscribed in the conceptual patterns maintained by real human groups.”
It is from this perspective that this call for contributions invites reflection on artistic and literary practices, insofar as these practices reveal social imaginaries that are indicative of collective cultural personalities whose relationships with ethnic otherness are sometimes conflictual; this can be observed on how artists and writers reproduce or transcend the social divisions maintained by these collective imaginaries through their procession of prejudices/stereotypes, which are known to have a propensity for negative categorisation of otherness (Flecheux 1999; Fischer 1996). The aim is therefore to examine the issue of art and intercultural mediation/counter-mediation in a global context marked by the resurgence of nationalism, identity-based withdrawal and intercultural or interethnic clashes.
Indeed, the current global context, with its major international challenges linked to globalisation, requires more than ever international cooperation capable of capitalising on intercultural differences. Furthermore, contemporary societies are essentially multicultural, as a result of migratory flows which, over the centuries, have made the existence of a culturally homogeneous country utopian. This multiculturalism offers immeasurable potential for creativity and wealth because, according to UNESCO figures, "the cultural and creative sector is one of the most powerful drivers of development in the world. It accounts for more than 48 million jobs globally, or 6.2% of all existing jobs and 3.1% of global GDP. It is also the sector that employs and offers opportunities to the largest number of young people under the age of 30." Unfortunately, the potential wealth embodied by cultural diversity goes hand in hand with its high level of conflict, which most often stems from ignorance of the benefits of cultural diversity. According to UNESCO, 89% of all current conflicts occur in countries where intercultural dialogue is weak. In light of this, UNESCO has made strengthening intercultural dialogue a priority in order to forge effective cooperation and maintain peace. The "Agenda for Sustainable Development" adopted by the United Nations in 2015 recognises the vital importance of protecting the diversity of cultural expressions, and identifies dialogue and the creative potential of this diversity as "the best means of achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals". Considering that the artistic creation sector is the one that best explores and exploits the creative potential of cultures in their interaction (as Édouard Glissant posits it through the concept of creolisation), this call for contributions aims to question its power of mediation or counter-mediation in a global context where cultural/ethnic diversity is often a source of conflict. Indeed, if we agree with UNESCO that the cultural and creative sector is a major instrument for effective international cooperation and peacekeeping, it goes without saying that this sector can serve as a lever for the culture of living together in a culturally heterogeneous world, provided, of course, that creators escape the grip of an ethnocentric, even ethno-fascist cultural substratum. It is this view of art as an activity that straddles intercultural mediation and counter-mediation that should be highlighted here, in a global context marked by a strong resurgence of nationalism and intercultural or inter-ethnic conflicts.
It should be remembered that art is a form of cultural expression and a mode of mass communication. Through their works and their strong transcultural audience, artists have the ability to build bridges between different cultural communities, where ignorance and political or economic power struggles tend to build barriers. Unfortunately, artists also have the ability to reinforce existing barriers when they lack the intercultural skills needed to step outside their own perspective and immerse themselves in the conceptual frameworks of others. It is precisely this dual role of art, which can serve as an agent of both intercultural coexistence and division, that is the subject of this call for papers. Researchers are therefore invited to explore the following non-exhaustive avenues:
- Intercultural mediation – forms, practices and issues
In addition to its artistic form, researchers will examine the different forms and practices of intercultural mediation. They will also explore the various issues involved in this type of mediation in a multicultural and crisis-prone global context.
- Artistic practices/creations and intercultural mediation
Based on the principle that each society or group, in order to value itself, tends to devalue its otherness, researchers will explore, in the artistic world, the cultural substrates or "traces of mentalities " (Ngetcham, 2022: 10) that reflect an ethnocentric perception of otherness; they will then show the creative process through which the artist either reproduces this logic or overcomes it in order to promote an ethno-relativist perception of the otherness of their culture of origin. The aim will be to highlight the elements of intercultural mediation or counter-mediation in artistic productions, to identify how cultural, ethnic or international otherness is thought, imagined and perceived by the culture/society in question; to highlight the artistic mechanisms through which these productions accentuate or deconstruct prejudices, stereotypes and other discourses of negative categorisation of otherness, thus presenting themselves as instruments for promoting either division or rapprochement and fruitful dialogue between cultural groups. This line of analysis of intercultural mediation or counter-mediation could be extended to gender or generational relations, etc., given that here too we are dealing with cultural differences that generate conflicts that may find a favourable or unfavourable echo in the arts. In this regard, proposals relating to feminism are particularly welcome, because if we agree with Simone de Beauvoir (1949) that one is not born a woman but becomes one, and that the dominant male complex and the dominated female complex are both part of a set of social constructs that have their origins in cultural norms, then it becomes interesting to try to understand how the art world contributes to either reshaping or fuelling these conflicting representations of male-female relationships, respectively through processes of mediation and counter-mediation.
- Art, historical memory and intercultural mediation
Can we distort or deconstruct the historical past to ensure harmonious coexistence between different cultural groups? Is the duty of truth always peacefully profitable? This section invites analysis of works whose mediating approach is based on historical resources: events, historical figures, etc. We will see how works of art function as sites of presence for marks, traces or clues through which they reconstruct conceptual patterns, inspiring metaphors and intertexts or recalling events and figures that have left their mark on collective memory. We will highlight how certain artists and writers, such as the humorist Manon Bril, draw on the historical past in the creation of their works, and how this investment in the historical past reinforces existing inter-community/international conflict or, conversely, promotes rapprochement and coexistence between these communities.
- Intercultural mediation and artistic performance
Artists (poets, painters, stylists/fashion designers, etc.) are invited to submit original works whose communicative scope involves a discourse of mediation between different cultural communities. Particular attention will be paid to works of art that contrast a discourse of dialogue and intercultural coexistence with the discourse of confrontation generated by the political sphere; to those that resurrect a hidden collective memory – as in the case of Cameroon – in order to deconstruct discourses of hatred and division; those whose discourse of mediation relates to an ongoing or emerging intercultural conflict; those whose discourse of intercultural mediation emphasises the preservation of fundamental interests common to different national or international cultural communities; and, finally, those that construct this discourse of mediation by presenting the cultural particularities of different ethnic groups or societies as complementary elements of a work of shared richness.
- Intercultural mediation, mentalities and political choices
Considering the arts as traces of cultural personalities , the aim here is to show how artistic data or traces within a work can serve as a means of transport for a journey through time, thus offering keys to understanding an ancient worldview, knowledge of which would enable us to understand and even question current conflicting visions. In the same vein, we will also analyse decision-making processes, ideologies, social organisations and modes of community interaction, highlighting how they stem from ancient worldviews or those currently being constructed in people’s mindsets.
Submission guidelines and schedule
Proposals for contributions of approximately 500 words must be sent in French or English to the following contacts: rodrygaschy@gmail.com, cyralainpangop@gmail.com, sekachiaye@gmail.com,
by March 28, 2026,
accompanied by a bibliographic note. After notification of validation on April 31, 2026, the final article (typed in Word format and complying with the editorial guidelines provided to the author) must be returned to the same addresses by June 31, 2026, at the latest, for evaluation and submission of the final draft to a publisher between July 31 and August 31, 2026.
Organising committee
Coordination
- Dr Dongmo Rodrigue, University of Dschang/Cameroon
- Prof. Alain Cyr Pangop, University of Dschang/Cameroon
- Dr Séka Chiayé, National Higher Institute of Arts and Cultural Action/Côte d’Ivoire
Reading Committee
- Dr Elmo Benjamin, University of Dschang
- Dr Soh Sokoudjou, University of Buea
- Dr Sotso Ali, University of Dschang
- Dr Nsangou Njoya Mama, University of Dschang
- Dr Atiogo Hilaire, University of Ottawa
- Dr Poumeyou Issofa, University of Buea
- Dr Assiatou, University of Dschang
Scientific and Artistic Committee
- Prof. Amougou Louis-Bertin, University of Dschang, Cameroon
- Prof. Njoya André, University of Dschang, Cameroon
- Prof. Timma Olivier, University of Dschang, Cameroon
- Prof. Tsofack Jean-Benoît, University of Dschang, Cameroon
- Prof. Tandia Jean-Jacques Rousseau, University of Dschang, Cameroon
- Prof. Akuidji Colbert, University of Dschang, Cameroon
- Prof. Gouaffo Albert, University of Dschang, Cameroon
- Prof. Fotsing Robert Mangoua, University of Dschang, Cameroon
- Prof. Abessolo Martial, University of Ebolowa, Cameroon
- Prof. Atangana Kouna Désiré, University of Yaoundé, Cameroon
- Prof. Fandio Pierre, University of Buea, Cameroon
- Prof. Kana Paul, University of Dschang/Cameroon
Subjects
- Representation (Main category)
- Society > Ethnology, anthropology > Cultural anthropology
- Mind and language > Representation > Cultural identities
Places
- Dschang, Cameroon
Date(s)
- Saturday, March 28, 2026
Attached files
Keywords
- art, médiation interculturelle, contre-médiation interculturelle
Contact(s)
- Rodrigue Marcel Ateufack Dongmo
courriel : rodrygaschy [at] gmail [dot] com - Alain Cyr Pangop
courriel : cyralainpangop [at] gmail [dot] com - Chiayé Séka
courriel : sekachiaye [at] gmail [dot] com
Information source
- Rodrigue Marcel Ateufack Dongmo
courriel : rodrygaschy [at] gmail [dot] com
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Art, mediation or intercultural counter-mediation », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Monday, March 02, 2026, https://doi.org/10.58079/15shn
