Andrea Fishman (Seattle University)
fish@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

This panel invites papers on a broad range of topics on the theme of “Mourning as Social Protest.” The act of public mourning, often led by women, has often helped to organize the larger community in response to social and state violence; such rituals can thus become acts of dissent or take on a transgressive political significance. Proposals may focus on rhetorical, political, historical, poetic, or creative themes. Papers may focus on a specific region, chronology, text, song, be comparative and/or diachronic, but they must demonstrate the intersection of mourning and a threat to or transgression against the dominant socio-political hegemony.

Solon’s 6th century BCE prohibitions against public ritual lament abolished composed dirges (thrênoi), restricted physical and excessive displays of mourning, severely impacted women’s public life in ancient Greece. The 1,200 year-old tradition of Irish keening (caoineadh) was suppressed by the Catholic Church from the 17th through 19th centuries for religious and social reasons, only to reemerge as a form of political protest during the Troubles in Derry and Belfast in the 1960’s and 1970’s and after the Greysteel shootings in 1993. Since 2022 in Iran, families of thousands of protesters murdered by government forces have transformed 40th-day memorial ceremonies into political events, using dancing, singing, and clapping over graves to defy the Islamic Republic’s mandatory mourning customs. Women often cut their hair, walk uncovered, or perform the kel (a high-pitched ululation traditionally reserved for weddings) during funerals to symbolize rebellion against the state. The Mourning Mothers of Laleh Park, a prominent group formed by women whose children were killed in protests, have historically gathered in Tehran to demand justice. Current protests against US ICE and Immigration policies exemplify the intersection of public mourning and protest: a Day of the Dead vigil in Concord, California, publicly mourned 25 individuals detained who died in ICE custody.

This panel invites papers on a broad range of topics on the theme of "Mourning as Social Protest." The act of public mourning, often led by women, may help to organize the larger community in response to social and state violence; such rituals can thus become acts of dissent or take on a transgressive political significance. Proposals may focus on rhetorical, political, historical, poetic, or musical themes. Papers may focus on a specific region and chronology or be comparative and/or diachronic, but they must demonstrate the intersection of mourning and a threat to or transgression against the dominant socio-political hegemony.

Suggestions for paper topics include (but are not limited to):

· Gender and public mourning

· Public mourning for Immigrants in protests against ICE in the United States

· Mourning rituals in Iran since 2022

· Lament songs (musical presentation)

· Mourning as political protest in the Middle East and Central Asia

· Irish Caoineadh (Keening) tradition

· Lament as social protest in Mexico and Latin America (e.g., Abuelas de la Plaza de Mayo; Mães de Maio)