From: SRATH <SRATH-AT-pilot.lsus.edu>
Subject: CALL FOR PAPERS
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 15:28:24 -0500


                           CALL FOR PAPERS 

         Fourth International Conference on Criticism and Theory
               Konark (Orissa) India, 14-17 December 2001 

Organized by: Forum on Contemporary Theory, M. S. University of Baroda
(India) in collaboration with LSU-Shreveport and Utkal
University of Culture (Bhubaneswar, India)

Conference Theme:  Ethical Turn in Literary and Cultural Studies (see below
for details)

Abstracts and proposals for individual papers and special session panels
focusing on the conference theme are invited for presentation.  Papers
should be limited to 20 minutes reading time (10-12 pages double- spaced);
panels should be limited to four papers.  Papers may be in the humanities
and the social sciences.

One-page proposals should be sent to the following address by July 15.  

Mailing address:  Sura P. Rath, Department of English, LSU-Shreveport,
Shreveport, LA 71115. Ph: 318-797-5296   Fax: 318-797-5290   
e-mail: srath-AT-pilot.LSUS.edu

Registration:  -AT-150.00 (includes non-refundable fee of $25 and room/board
for five days, 13-17, at the Yatri Nivas).  Due August 5, 2001, payable to
Forum on Contemporary Theory

Selected papers from the conference will be published in the Journal of
Contemporary Thought.

Following is a brief description by way of guidelines for the paper/panel
topics: 
The theme of the 2001 conference  takes off from that of the last year's
conference on "The Future of Tradition" held at Aurangabad.  In that
conference an attempt was made to rethink on the nature of our intellectual
inquiry in the new century through a retrospective glance at some of the
theoretical and conceptual ideas which dominated in the discourses in the
previous century.  Drawing on Heidegger's notion of tradition's futuristic
orientation, the Aurangabad conference discussed the need for a fresh look
at the past as a condition for rethinking the future.  In that context the
notion of Ethics has a renewed salience. Although this notion seems to have
been founded in the classical past with reference to the definition of the
nature of humanity in a well-defined scheme of things, it has continually
re-emerged since then  as the most central topos in the discourse of the
human sciences.  But the disenchantment with the notion of the splintered
self and the "end of man" proclaimed by both post-modernism and
post-structuralism has brought about a change in the perception of the self.
This change is perceptible in some of the critical discourses currently in
vogue.  With the passing of the twentieth century with a terrible bang
created by natural catastrophes of cyclones and earthquakes,  a new kind of
ethical urgency seems to be felt now, which requires our greater
responsiveness and responsibility to the world around us.   We cannot afford
to turn our back on the events occurring around us in the name of academic
freedom in the pursuit of knowledge. That is why, what we do in the
classroom or in the highly rarefied world of academic pursuit must have some
relevance to the world around us.  This brings us to the question of ethical
dimension of knowledge-of reading, writing, teaching, conferencing etc.  The
objective of this conference is to address this question. 

How do we perceive the ethical dimension of knowledge?  A close look at some
of the writings of philosophical and conceptual nature ranging over several
fields during the last ten years or so will indicate that a subtle
transformation in the professional attitude to the world  has already taken
place.  Particularly in literary and cultural studies this change has been
most evident.  The closing years of the twentieth century have provided a
fitting transition to the twenty first century which seems to begin with new
hopes and promises for a better world. Against a perspective which treated
literature as a self-sustained narcissistic adventure supported by an
equally self-centred theoretical enterprise, a change has occurred in which
such notions as performative ethics, inter-subjective dialogue, ecological
harmony, the corporeality of space, beauty as a condition for justice, and
the efficacy of what Emmanuel Levinas calls the "face-to-face encounter with
the other" become vital for consideration in literary and cultural studies. 

The conference program will include some special panels having relevance to
India.  One panel will focus upon U. R. Ananthamurthy's Kannada novel
Samskara, which is available in English translation, under the broad rubric
of "Literature, Religion and Needs  of Social Polity."  Another panel
"Identity, Realism, and the Comparative Study of Indian Literature: Reading
Against the Grain of Postmodernism" will address questions of literary value
and the need for a "realist-pragmatist epistemology" for the study of
Indian literature.

ABOUT THE CONFERENCE LOCATION:
Midway between Puri and Bhubaneswar, Konark is a part of the Golden Triangle
on India's east coast.  It is the site of the famous Sun Temple built in the
13th Century.  To get there, conference participants will come to
Bhubaneswar and then take a taxi or bus.
   By Air: Bhubaneswar is air-linked to Calcutta, Delhi, and Bombay 
           (some flights run only on select days)
   By train: Bhubaneswar is on the Southeastern Railway, connected to
Calcutta, Delhi, and Madras by super fast trains  (reservation
necessary)
International travelers who confirm their time/date of arrival will be
greeted at the train station or the airport for local transportation to
Konark.  All participants will stay at the Yatri Nivas, operated by the
state Tourism and Development Department.

The Bay of Bengal is only 1.5 miles away from Yatri Nivas, the venue of the
conference. Participants should arrive at Konark on the evening of December
13 so they may take the sightseeing tour to Bhubaneswar and Puri on the
14th.  The conference sessions will begin at 9.00 a.m. on December 15 with a
keynote address by Professor J. N. Mohanty of Temple University. 

Coordinator: P. C. Kar, Department of English, M. S. University of Baroda
(India) Ph: (265) 338067





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