Date: Sun, 18 Jun 2000 16:56:27 +0300
Subject: Conference in Kuwait
From: piers m smith <piers-AT-kuc01.kuniv.edu.kw>



Hoping someone might be interested. The conference, planned for 17-19 March,
2001, includes sections on

1. Comparative Literature: 'In the new era of globalization and
multiculturalism, there is a pressing need to re-assess the position and
direction of CompLit studies'.

2. Appropriating the Other: 'Set within a colonial and post-colonial
framework .... Discussion to focus on the dialectic between the self and the
Other in its various forms, e.g. center/margin, First World/Third World ....
Issues such as Orientalism, hegemony, migrancy, diaspora,
English/englishes/indigenous languages ...'.

3. Mythopoesis: Comparative Paradigms: 'exploration of the revolutionary
power with which modern writers, from East and West, gave meaning to
archetypal myths and legends, and the cultural implications of these
mythopoeses from [in the light] of 20th century critical methodologies'.

4. Literary Polemics of Utopia and Dystopia: 'utopian and dystopian views
and visions [in] literature and other disciplines such as painting, music
and the sciences'.

5. Gendered Discourse: Comparative Perspectives: Main focus on women's
discourse. Relevant topics include: 'identity, women as dangerous and
non-conforming ... incarceration and surveillance ... the impulse for
matyrdom, women and self-fashioning in urban/rural spaces, male/female
polarities ...'

6. Image of the Arab World in Travel Literature

7. Arab Writers in French and English: 'Questions pertaining to writers'
adaptations or appropriation of the foreign language, affinities with
Anglophone or Francophone literatures, expatriate literary discourse,
receptions of such writers, relevant critical methodology ... drawing on
current poco theory'.

8. Critical Acculturation: 'This section will investigate the phenomenon of
recent attempts at intraculturalism in critical theorization, especially
between postcolonial and other approaches, in the context of the resurgence
of nationalism and regionalism. Papers on critical efforts/models seeking
mediation and/or a counterdiscourse between classical Arabic literary
theories and structuralist/poststructuralist western theories especially
welcome .... overall aim is to open a multidimensional perspective on
critical theorization in the non-western world'.

(Quotes culled from a draft proposal).

The provisional title is 'Aesthetic Encounters'. The organising body is the
Department of English at Kuwait University. This is the first ever
international conference to be organised by that department. Length of paper
should be such as would cover 20-25 minutes of presentation time. Proposals
plus abstracts (500-800 words) should reach the organisers before November
30th, 2000.

If you would like further details, contact me Piers Smith at
piers-AT-kuc01.kuniv.edu.kw

Looking forward to hearing from you.
  



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