October 2009 |
The Metareferential Turn in Contemporary Arts and Media: Forms, Functions, and Attempts at Explanation Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz, Austria - 1-3 October 2009 Deadline for proposals: 16 February 2009 |
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The aim of the symposium
is to elucidate the current 'metareferential turn' in the arts and
media (high 'meta-art' as well as 'meta-pop') from both a functional
and a cultural-historical perspective.
Issues to be considered are: •
collecting and interpreting relevant cases of metareference in
contemporary arts and media, especially where this has not been done so
far to a sufficient degree;
• exploring major functions
and effects of metaization in contemporary arts and media;
•
embedding the current metareferential turn in the general
cultural-historical development of 'metaization', and finding possible
reasons for its appearance.
Papers (in English)
dealing with any of these topics are welcome, especially when they go
beyond a discussion of 'metafiction'; yet all papers ought to address
the functions of metaization in our world and/or the question of how to
explain the current metareferential turn. Length of papers: 30 minutes.
For detailed information on 'metareference' and a preceding conference
on this subject consult: http://www.uni-graz.at/angwww/angwww_congress.htm.
Please send abstracts of 300 to 500 words with short CV including an
indication of academic affiliation to <metareference@uni-graz.at>.(posted 16 Sep '08)
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British Aestheticisms : Sources, Genres, Definitions, Evolutions Université Paul Valéry, Montpellier, France - 2-3 October 2009 Deadline for proposals: 1 December 2008 |
 Both a social phenomenon,
an artistic movement and a literary trend,
British Aestheticism has been the object of multiple, sometimes
contradictory, definitions which all point to its central role in the
advent of modernity. As a movement and as an operative notion
Aestheticism is of major importance to anybody interested in nineteenth
and early twentieth century British culture.This international conference on British Aestheticisms : Sources, Genres, Definitions, Evolutions, which will take place in October 2009, aims at reexamining the notion of Aestheticism from a transdisciplinary perspective and hopes to attract contributions (in French or in English) from researchers across the fields of British studies, comparative studies, art history, publishing history, aesthetics, philosophy, reception theory, women‚s studies, queer theory, and gay and lesbian studies. Papers may focus on the
definition and the boundaries of Aestheticism,
its relationship with tradition, and its links with contemporary or
subsequent movements (European Decadence, Modernism, etc.); we also
encourage contributions on the generic definition of Aestheticism, its
editorial policies or its circulation and popularization via other
media (visual arts, theatre, music-hall) in mainstream culture as well
as in various alternative communities, in the general context of the
explosion of the means of communication and mechanic reproduction, or
what L. Dowling
calls artistic "vulgarisation". What authors were/are
considered aesthetic? Who read Aesthetic writings (both fiction and
non-fiction), bought or
saw Aesthetic products, or attended Aesthetic performances?
Furthermore, as Aestheticism is concomitant with a re-envisaging of
gender and
identities, contributors may want to explore the links between
Aestheticism and
Victorian feminism and with the 'third sex'. Finally, one may want to
examine the philosophical underpinnings of a movement based on Kantian
philosophy which aimed at challenging oppositions between aesthetics
and ethics: is Aestheticism a subversion, a redefinition, or a
suspension
of the oppositions between aesthetics and ethics?
This conference is organised by the CERVEC Research Center (Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Victoriennes, Edouardiennes et Contemporaines, EA 741) of the Université Paul Valéry Montpellier, France. Selected papers will be published. Please send a 300-word abstract before December 1st, 2008 to <catherine.delyfer@univ-montp3.fr> AND <bncoste@free.fr>. Conference website: http://www.esthetismes.org/ (posted 9 Jun '08)
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November 2009
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Imagining Amsterdam: Visions and Revisions Amsterdam, Netherlands - 19-21 November 2009 Deadline for proposals: 14 February 2009 |
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Amsterdam has always been
a locus of powerful imagining, and for centuries the city has been the
subject of representation in literature, music, and the visual arts.
Yet while artists and writers have long emphasised the city's
reputation for permissiveness and tolerance, in recent years the
international image of Amsterdam as the paradigm of an "open society"
has been charged with new significance and urgency. Against the
backdrop of the war on terror, an increasingly polarised debate has
taken place about multiculturalism and about new, global challenges to
our Western models of capitalist democracy. In this context Amsterdam
has emerged as a privileged site of representation which registers
changes, instabilities, and contradictions in the contemporary
self-image of the West. On the one hand, the city’s small scale and
friendly face continue to secure a special - though often caricatured -
place for it in the iconography of liberal democracy, and images of
Amsterdam as open and tolerant have been reinflected and reassessed. On
the other hand, international media coverage of the murder of Theo van
Gogh and other recent events has located Amsterdam at the forefront of
transformations that are felt to be underway or imminent in European
society at large, turning the city into the site of various imaginings
of the future. In a variety of ways, the image of Amsterdam stimulates
utopian, heterotopian, as well as dystopian scenarios and speculations.
Writers, artists, and film makers use the image of Amsterdam as a
vehicle for reflection on much wider social, political, and cultural
concerns, and their literary, filmic, and artistic renderings allow us
to explore contemporary ideas about global and international
developments.
This conference aims to
examine the popular, literary, cinematic, and artistic image of
Amsterdam in the age of globalisation. From internationally acclaimed
novels by John Irving, Arnon Grunberg, and Ian McEwan to blockbusters
like Soderbergh's Ocean's Twelve;
from historical fictions by Deborah Moggach and David Liss to
sociological journalism like Ian Buruma's Murder in Amsterdam; and from
Albert Camus's classic novel La Chute
to art films like Peter Greenaway's Nightwatching,
the storehouse of international representations of Amsterdam is vast
and diverse. But whether these representations focus on the city as the
setting of experimental and alternative lifestyles, on its history as a
cradle of early-modern and modern capitalism, or on the inter-cultural
tensions (including a religiously motivated killing) which it has seen
in recent years, Amsterdam has always triggered an intense and
multifaceted response in the eyes of its international and Anglophone
beholders. The conference welcomes papers that explore these issues
from various theoretical, critical, analytical, and cultural
perspectives.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:1.
Representations of Amsterdam as a transcultural meeting place: How do
imaginings of Amsterdam situate the Netherlands in the world? By which
strategies is the city constructed and marketed as a "brand"? In what
sort of cultural practices and representations do the notions of
tolerance, liberty and freedom commonly associated with Amsterdam find
embodiment?
2.
Representations of Amsterdam as an historical centre of capitalism,
commerce, and colonial trade: What are the politics and aesthetics of
these imaginings in the face of a changing economic world order? How
does Amsterdam function as a lieu de
mémoire of the financial and economic world? Which
scenarios for the future does the image of Amsterdam invite?
3.
Representations of "libertarian" Amsterdam: In imagining Amsterdam as a
sanctuary for legalised prostitution and euthanasia, do artists and
film makers respond to a reality which they see as being unique to
Dutch society? Or, do they displace foreign or international concerns,
problems, and issues onto the Dutch city? What sort of authority -
historical or artistic, fact-based or fictional - do these
representations claim? And how can we historicise
these, often stereotypical representations?
4.
Representations of Amsterdam as the paradigm of an "open society" whose
tolerance and long-standing multiculturalist ideals are currently under
question: How has the image of the city changed since 9/11 and the
"clash of civilisations" debate? How do literature, cinema, and the
arts respond to the global coverage of recent Dutch news events? What
sort of cultural transfers are facilitated by these responses?
Further suggestions for panels or individual papers:• Novels, comic books, and graphic novels set in Amsterdam. • Heritage films set in Amsterdam. • Amsterdam as the setting for life-changing experiences. • Lifestyles and Amsterdam. • Constructions of otherness in and through constructions of Amsterdam. • Popular music ("Dans le port d’Amsterdam") about Amsterdam. • Adaptations of classic Dutch novels. • The international reception of Netherlandic literature and film art. • Rembrandt in cultural memory. • Amsterdam as a centre of trade in the 17th century. • Imaginings of Dutch-American cultural transfers. • Amsterdam architecture and city spaces. •
Cinematic transfers in mainstream film (e.g. Paul Verhoeven, Dick Maas)
and art house cinema (e.g. Theo van Gogh, Peter Greenaway).
Proposals for individual
papers of no more than 300 words should be sent to both Dr. Joyce
Goggin <j.goggin@uva.nl> and Dr. Marco de Waard
<marco.dewaard@uva.nl> by February 14, 2009. We also welcome
proposals for panels of three speakers (summarising the rationale of
the panel and providing abstracts of each paper). The conference will
be held in Amsterdam, November 19-21, 2009, and will be jointly hosted
by the Department of English and the Institute of Culture and History
(ICH), University of Amsterdam and Amsterdam University College.
For registration details and regular updates about the programme and
the plenary speakers: see our website http://www.hum.uva.nl/Imagining-Amsterdam(posted 3 Nov '08)
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| December 2009
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