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CfP: Myth and Drama: Crises, Borders, Otherness

May 30

The Second International conference Myth and Drama will be held on 27 – 28 October 2026 in Skopje. The event is co-organized by the Faculty of Philology “Blaže Koneski” in Skopje, Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje (UKIM), the Institute of Macedonian Literature (UKIM), and the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, (UKIM). This conference is coordinated in partnership with Eurodram – European Network for Drama in Translation (www.eurodram.org) and the Eurodram Week 2026 programme in Skopje. On this occasion, it is our great honor and pleasure to invite you to participate in the conference program with your presentation.

Conference Scope: Since their very beginnings, myth and drama (theatre) have been deeply intertwined, and their dynamic dialogue has given rise to rich and compelling creations and (re)interpretations. Myths, as foundational narratives and repositories of the collective imaginary, have traditionally served as the basis for numerous dramatic texts and theatrical performances. Contemporary dramatic (theatrical) production reflects the need for new readings and reconfigurations of myth, raising the question of the creation of new myths within the context of contemporary challenges.

This year’s edition bears the subtitle Crises, Borders, Otherness, thereby directing the thematic focus toward newly emerging global and local constellations, as well as toward intensified academic debates on liminality, configurations of identity, and forms of otherness. The aim of the second edition of this interdisciplinary conference—bringing together dramaturgical and theatrological approaches with philological, anthropological, philosophical, historical, gender, and other perspectives—is to examine the relations between myth and drama from antiquity to the present, with particular emphasis on issues that have emerged as especially relevant and urgent. At the same time, the questions of crises, borders, and otherness—which today appear particularly relevant and whose challenges we seek to address—have always stood at the centre of the creative—both poetic and political—interpretations and reinventions of the cosmos, the world, and the human being as represented through myth and drama. These three thematic nodes are inscribed in the very poetics and function of myth and drama, for it is precisely through narrative and performative shaping that moments of rupture, liminal states, and encounters with the Other are articulated as constitutive points of cultural and social self-reflection.

Myth and drama, in their mutual reflections and intertwinings, not only frequently emerge as responses to profound social and political crises, but their productive dialogue also unfolds through their own internal self-interrogations—through the crisis of myth and of drama as poetic and cultural forms. Moreover, they are essentially and structurally bound to the concept of the border, at whose threshold they are inscribed, simultaneously representing and transgressing it—whether it be the border between the polis and the antipolis, between stage and audience, or among different forms of collectivity. In periods of (political and poetic) crises, borders—and their (de)construction and (de)sacralization—acquire crucial significance in myth and drama, while simultaneously foregrounding the question of otherness as their inner core. By embodying and crossing borders in the text and on the stage, myth and drama interrogate and play the figures of the Other—the non-citizen, the woman, the stranger, the migrant—in dialogue with contemporary migrational, political, and cultural crises that are redefining the contours of belonging and exclusion in today’s world.

We suggest the following subtopics for consideration; however, the list is not exhaustive, and proposals addressing related issues are equally welcome.

Crises:

  • Myth and Drama in the Face of Crisis
  • The Crisis of Myth and Drama
  • Myth, Drama, and Trauma
  • Political Mythologies, Critical Dramaturgies
  • Comic Subversions and Travesties of Myth as a Response to Crisis
  • Myth and Drama in the Age of Artificial Intelligence
  • Digital Mythologies

Borders:

  • Transgressions, Travesties, and Hybridizations
  • Translation, Adaptation, and Intercultural Circulation of Myths
  • Representations and Reconsiderations of Borders in Myth and Drama
  • (De)construction of Borders and Identities in Myth and Drama
  • The Body as Border (Gendered, Racial, Political, Symbolic)
  • Myths/Dramas of Exile, Migration, and Wandering

Otherness:

  • Figures of Otherness in Myth and Drama: the Deity, the Woman, the Stranger, the Migrant, the Elder, the Monster, the Animal…
  • Monsters, Strangers, and Marginals
  • Comedy and Otherness: the Other as a Comedic Agent
  • Comic Subversions and Decolonizations of Myth
  • Posthumanism, New Technologies, and Digital Reinventions of Myth
  • Divine, Animal, and Technological Otherness

The papers may focus on ancient, medieval, modern, or contemporary works.

Guidelines for Participation and Important Dates:

  • Each author may submit one paper (individually or co-authored) for participation in the conference.
  • Registration fee: 2000 MKD or 35 EUR.
  • In addition to the abstract (up to 250 words, written in one of the working languages of the conference), authors should include their name, professional affiliation, title of the proposed paper for presentation, and keywords in the application.

Submission deadline: no later than 30 May 2026, to the following address: mit_drama@iml.edu.mk

  • Authors will be notified of the acceptance of their abstract no later than 15 June 2026.
  • After the conference, the papers will be published in a proceedings volume. Authors will receive further information regarding deadlines, format, and length of the papers.
  • Working languages of the conference: Macedonian, French, English, and South Slavic languages.

Keynote speakers:

Maja Bojadjievska, Blazhe Koneski Faculty of Philology in Skopje, Ss Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje Pierre Letessier,Faculty of Arts & Media, Sorbonne Nouvelle University, Paris (to be confirmed) Duška Radosavljević, The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, University of London and Lund University

Programme Committee:

Nataša Avramovska, Institute of Macedonian Literature, UKIM, Skopje Despina Angelovska, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, UKIM, Skopje Darin Angelovski, Institute of Macedonian Literature, UKIM, Skopje Ivica Baković, Faculty of humanities and social sciences, University of Zagreb Ana Dimiškovska, Faculty of Philosophy, UKIM, Skopje Miguel Ramalhete Gomes, Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon Jitka Goriaux, Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Theatre Faculty (DAMU) Besfort Idrizi, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, UKIM, Skopje Vladimir Martinovski, “Blaže Koneski“ Faculty of Philology, UKIM, Skopje Žanina Mirčevska, Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, University of Ljubljana Kristina N. Nikolovska, “Blaže Koneski” Faculty of Philology, UKIM, Skopje Svetlana Slapšak, Institute for Balkan and Mediterranean Studies and Culture, Ljubljana Lada Stevanović, Institute of Ethnography, SASA, Belgrade Vesna Tomovska, Faculty of Philosophy, UKIM, Skopje Daniela Toševa, Faculty of Philosophy, UKIM, Skopje

Organizing Committee:

Nataša Avramovska, Institute of Macedonian Literature, UKIM, Skopje Despina Angelovska, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, UKIM, Skopje Darin Angelovski, Institute of Macedonian Literature, UKIM, Skopje Besfort Idrizi, Faculty of Dramatic Arts, UKIM, Skopje Vladimir Martinovski, “Blaže Koneski“ Faculty of Philology, UKIM, Skopje Kristina N. Nikolovska, “Blaže Koneski” Faculty of Philology, UKIM, Skopje

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