The Van Leer Jerusalem Institute is holding a conference on ‘Salonica: a multi-cultural city in the Ottoman Empire and the Greek state between the World Wars‘ from 22-23 May 2017. The Call for Papers is open until 31 October 2016. (Call for Papers on MENALIB)

Core Topics are:

• The  formation  of  Salonica  as  an  Ottoman  city  –  cultural,  social, economical and demographic ramifications.
• Salonica’s languages – Greek, Ottoman Turkish, Ladino, Armenian, Italian, French and interlingual encounters.
• Material culture and visual art:  architecture, plastic arts, dress, tombstone engravings, manuscripts etc.
• Mystical traditions in Salonica: Sufi groups, Sabbateans, Kabbalistic and Christian beliefs.
• Conversion and interreligious crossings.
• Literature in and about Salonica: popular literature, poetry, journalism, travelogues and modern literary genres.
• The voices of Salonica: the city’s various musical traditions.
• Educational institutions and textbooks.
• The image of multi-cultural coexistence.
• The rise of Greek nationalism in Salonica.
• The economy as a sphere of inter-communal encounters and competition.
• Significant historical events and their influence on cultural trends among the local  population, such as the arrival of the exiles from Spain, the Great Fire of 1917, the Greek-Turkish exchange of populations and the influx of refugees from Anatolia.
• The tanzimat and processes of modernization and change in Salonica at the turn of the 20th century.
• The shaping of Salonica-related myths.
• Intercultural trends in Salonica between the wars.