Tradition in the Present
Print version
Directed by:Maleiha Malik
Dr Jon Wilson
Funded by:
Arts and Humanities Research Council
A generation ago, tradition was an outmoded concept. It was relevant to our times only as far as it was to be superseded by modernity or - as some scholars argued - 'invented' to fulfil non-traditional objectives. Since then 'tradition' has returned, and is a word that's used increasingly often in both academia and public life. People talk about multicultural societies as places where people from different traditions co-exist. Some still think that contemporary global conflicts are a clash between tradition and modern ways of doing things. Others suggest that liberalism and democracy are themselves 'traditions'.
But, when used in these debates, what does the word tradition mean? How has the meaning of 'tradition' changed over centuries. Has there ever been a stable concept of tradition, or does the word in fact veil a number of different contradictory usages? What is it about our current, global moment that makes 'tradition' such an important concept? How have the meanings and use of tradition changed in the post-September 11 world?
The Project
With funding from the AHRC, Jon and Maleiha have created a network of scholars from different places and disciplinary backgrounds to help investigate these questions. The network met a number of times between March 2008 and May 2009 in both London and New York. It is also developing a growing virtual existence, in the form of a blog: we encourage anyone interested to participate.
Find out more about
* Yue Minjun, 'Liberty Leading the People' (1994). The painting is a version of Eugene Delacroix's 1824 painting of the same name. Yue Minjun's painting was the subject of the talk by Professor Shu-mei Shig from UCLA at the March Tradition in the Present workshop. It was sold by Sotheby's for almost $4.1 million in October 2007.
Find out more about
- some questions which motivate our research
- the network's events and participants
* Yue Minjun, 'Liberty Leading the People' (1994). The painting is a version of Eugene Delacroix's 1824 painting of the same name. Yue Minjun's painting was the subject of the talk by Professor Shu-mei Shig from UCLA at the March Tradition in the Present workshop. It was sold by Sotheby's for almost $4.1 million in October 2007.
| Attached files | |
|
|