Subject: Second International Conference of the United States Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies
Date: Sat, 15 Dec 2001 16:00:27 -0500



Second International Conference of the United States Association
for Commonwealth Literature and Language StudiesApril 26-28, 2002
Santa Clara University, California
(40 miles south of San Francisco; one mile from San Jose airport)

"Rethinking Commonwealth/Postcolonial Literatures:
Cartographies and Topographies, Past and Present"
Guest Speakers, and Writers Reading from their Work: Opal Palmer Adisa, Pal
Ahluwalia, Felix Cheong, Arif Dirlik, Chitra Divakaruni, Abdul JanMohamed,
Ginu Kamani, Shirley Lim, Satendra Nandan, Joel Tan, Trinh Minh-ha, and
others

 Amitav Ghosh's novel, The Glass Palace, was recently named a finalist for
the Commonwealth Writers Prize.  In asking that it be withdrawn from the
competition Ghosh objected that "this phrase anchors an area of contemporary
writing not within the realities of the present day, nor within the
possibilities of the future, but rather within a disputed aspect of the
past.  In this it is completely unlike any other literary term (would it not
surprise us, for instance, if that familiar category 'English literature'
were to be renamed 'the literature of the Norman Conquest'?)."  This
novelist's objections demonstrate that the notion of "commonwealth" or
"postcolonial" can be called into question and its implications should be
explored as the world's global geo-political economy further expands into
the new century.  If among Commonwealth or Postcolonial literature and
languages we also include, as is sometimes done, not only materials in
English from current members of the British Commonwealth (Canadian,
Australian, Anglophone Africa, etc.) but also in writings in French,
Spanish, Portuguese, Kikuyu, and all major South Asian languages, what are
the boundaries of this expanding field of research?  Papers dealing in some
way with aspects of this topic are encouraged, but so too are others that
may not seem immediately implicated in the question.  Possible topics, among
others, would be: Multifocal approaches to the study of language and
literature: commonwealth, multiethnic, postcolonial, and transnational
perspectives    --Commonwealths: global-regional reconfigurations and
transformations at the turn of the century    --The impact of technology on
postcolonial literatures (Santa Clara University is in the heart of Silicon
Valley)     *Questions of local or national languages in the creation of
"new" literatures     *"Maps" (personal, national, philosophical)     *Close
readings of individual works or sequences in one or several authors'
writings     *Cross-cultural comparative analyses of texts; US culture and
ethnic American literatures     *Pedagogical issues, either undergraduate or
graduate     *Proposed panels and roundtables on topics of mutual interest
*Film     *Creative readings by authors

 Deadline for abstracts and panel/roundtable proposals: January 15, 2002.
300 word abstracts should be sent to: John C. Hawley, Dept. of English, 500
El Camino, Santa Clara University, Santa Clara CA 95053.    English
departmental FAX: 408 554 4837. email: jhawley-AT-scu.edu  The conference has
the support of San Jose State, Fresno State, Stanford, University of
California at Berkeley, University of California at Santa Cruz, and the
University of San Francisco. Membership in the USACLALS is $25, or $10 for
students, adjuncts, and retired professors.  Please send name, affiliation
and fees for membership to Terri Hasseler, Bryant College, 1150 Douglas Pike
Rd, Smithfield, RI 02917.  For questions re the organization see
http://web.bryant.edu/~usaclals/ or contact Amritjit Singh, President of
USACLALS, at Rhode Island College  (asingh-AT-ric.edu)



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