Review: “20/20 Vision: Citizenship, Space, Renewal,” EAAS Annual Conference 2021 (Online)
Organised by the European Association for American Studies, “20/20 Vision: Citizenship, Space, Renewal” coincided with the 400th anniversary of the establishment of the Plymouth Foundation and invited scholars to contemplate on American history, politics and culture. The conference called for an exploration of three broad thematic areas: the aspect of citizenship, issues of the environment and the idea of renewal. The overarching concept of “20/20 vision”, an optical term denoting normal visual clarity and sharpness of sight, sought to underscore pressing questions on historical distance, visibility and invisibility of various American socio-historical, cultural and literary aspects. In this way, the event allowed Americanists – mostly from European and American academia – to re-frame and re-evaluate the plurality of narratives and counter-narratives throughout the history of the American nation. The quadricentennial became a reference point not only for sheer celebration but also critical thinking. In the keynote lecture “1620 / 2020: […]