Nights to Remember: Memory, Modernity & the Myth of the Titanic Event

The Titanic is a monumental icon of the twentieth century that has inspired a wealth of representations across the arts. Southampton itself is a key location in the ship's journey, and offers a rich source of local history. On 20-23 July 2000, the University's film and television programme hosted a multidisciplinary conference, Nights to Remember: Memory, Modernity and the Myth of the Titanic, that linked the local experience of the Titanic with its global myth.

This was the first time that a conference brought together scholars in film and media, music, art history, cultural studies, literary studies, theatre studies and history, resulting in an exciting atmosphere of intellectual debate across disciplines.

The conference attracted leading authorities from the US, Britain and continental Europe, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and Singapore, as well as local historians. At the opening night reception at the waterfront Harbour Lights cinema, delegates enjoyed a comedy cabaret and a photographic exhibition donated by Southampton City Council Heritage department, before the screening of a specially reconstructed, tinted 35mm print of Titanic: In Nacht und Eis (1912) featuring live piano accompaniment by celebrated composer Neil Brand. The conference programme included screenings of archive newsreels as well as key films such as Titanic (Germany 1943), A Night to Remember (UK 1958) and Titanic (US 1997).

A book coming out of the conference has now been published
Publisher: London and New York: I.B. Tauris, 2004
Authors: Tim Bergfelder, Sarah Street, eds.
Available on Amazon

 

 

 

 

 

 

Keynote Speakers

• Charles Barr (University of East Anglia)
• John Wilson Foster (University of British Columbia)
• Gaylyn Studlar (University of Michigan-Ann Arbor)

Conference Director: Pam Cook
Conference Administrator: Jo Wilcock

Organising Committee:

• Tim Bergfelder
• Deniz Göktürk
• Mike Hammond
• Lucy Mazdon

Generous support was received from: The Goethe Institut, London, W&G Baird Ltd, Belfast, Southern Arts, the British Academy and the University of Southampton Faculty of Arts.