2nd International Egodocumental Network Conference (Web); Sorbonne Univ., Nicolaus Copernicus Univ. in Toruń, Univ. of Lodz, and Vilnius Univ.; Anna Brzezińska, Hadrian Ciechowski, Michaël Green, Arvydas Pacevičius, and François-Joseph Ruggiu

Time: 07.-09.04.2027
Venue: Sorbonne Univ., Paris
Proposals by: 15.10.2026

Confirmed keynote speakers: James Daybell (Univ. of Plymouth), Paweł Rodak (Univ. of Warsaw/IABA), and Leonieke Vermeer (Univ. of Groningen)

The International Egodocumental Network was created in December 2023 by Hadrian Ciechanowski and Michaël Green, with the goal to promote research into egodocuments and to unite scholars working on and with these kind of texts. It currently unites over one-hundred-and-thirty scholars from Europe, Asia and the Americas, while aiming at serving as a bridge between researchers of different periods and disciplines.
Egodocuments as a research term appeared in the late 1950s, coined by Jacob Presser to denote historical sources which are written by oneself about oneself and containing the particle „I“. Over the years, sources of personal nature once again became more and more prominent in historically oriented research, and became part of the standard choice of sources for other disciplines, such as sociology, literary studies, psychology etc. Competitive and complementary approaches have been developed, such as life-writing (literature), egodocumentality, and then national takes such as écrits du for privé and Selbstzeugnisse, all popularising the research into personal narratives of various kinds.
In 2025 the first International Egodocumental Network Conference, which took place in Vilnius, the main topic was the development of the egodocuments from Medieval codex to modern media (Web). In 2027, for the second IEN conference, we are following in the footsteps of Pierre-Yves Beaurepaire, who initiated a discussion on the digitisation of egodocuments in light of the development of the internet in Montpellier in 2002, we are mindful of the implications on historical sources that technological advancements have for researchers. As one of the key elements of the debate at the Paris conference, we would like to discuss research opportunities arising from the emergence of new forms of egodocuments, such as blogs and social media as well as from the current technological possibilities for egodocumental research. Furthermore, we would like to raise the issue of accessibility of personal archives for historical research in the current big tech era.
In addition to the two main themes of the conference, we also welcome papers which are based on research into egodocuments dealing with other topics, and especially, but not exclusively interdisciplinary and those focusing on religion, privacy, media and book history. In addition to the main theme of the conference, this call is open to all researchers – whether or not they are members of the network – who are interested in egodocuments as material for their research, in any field whatsoever, as cultural artefacts or as a literary genre.

Organisational information will be published on the website (Web)
Please submit your paper proposal by 15 October 2026 to: ienc2027@uni.lodz.pl, accompanied by a short CV. Notification of acceptance will be sent by 1 December 2026.

Conference fee: 150 euro (standard fee), 65 euro (PhD students and students)

After the conference, we are planning to publish a dedicated volume in the Brill series Egodocuments and History and in the scientific journal Rocznik Egodokumentalny. Journal of Egodocuments and Self-Narratives (Web), dedicated to all scholars interested in research-based or engaging egodocuments. The decision on the article’s acceptance, in both cases, will be based on the reviews.