Call for Papers
Deadline: June 30, 2018
Conflict: a “competitive or opposing action of incompatibles,” also “the opposition of persons or forces that gives rise to the dramatic action in … fiction” (Merriam Webster);
Contrast: a “juxtaposition of dissimilar elements,” (Merriam Webster) also, in the medical context, a solution of iodine, barium-sulphate or gadolinium, rendering visible that which is otherwise transparent: thus, bringing things to light through negativity;
Contradiction: originating from “speaking against,” a logical incongruity in an utterance or performance, going against the expectation of internal consistency of speech.
In the sixth edition of the Crossroads Graduate Student Conference in Comparative Literature, we seek to investigate the theoretical problems situated at the intersection of the three concepts outlined above in literature, film, and other media. In the spirit of this anti-consensus approach, we seek contributions tackling heterodox positionings in scholarship, literature, and art. We are particularly interested in papers exploring representations of dissent, incompatibility, and internally flawed speech/discourse, as well as works, be they literary, filmic, or performative, that embody the contradictory, and resist consensus by emphasizing conflict as a productive strategy. Ranging from instances of dissent from the established opinions to theory encouraging us to question seemingly transparent concepts, the topics may include:
- Irony and war
- Humor, satire, and resistance
- Contrary discourses
- Alternative histories of modernities
- Histories of “powerless”, “invisible”, or “silent” subjects
- Theorizing excess
- Hermeneutics of contradiction
- Aesthetics of conflict and resolution
- Transgressive scholarship: theory and practice
- Narrative theory and conflict
- Theories and representations of trauma
- Marginality, deviance, and madness
- Performance and performativity: Embodiment and the three Cs
- Multiplicity, bodies and identities: Existence beyond binaries
- Posthumous editing and external framing (within anthologies, collected works etc.) as polemic
We also welcome contributions in the general fields of comparative literature, cultural studies, and critical theory.
Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to [email protected] by June 15th. Abstracts must include full name, contact information, institutional affiliation, and a short bio.
Participants will be notified of their acceptance by the beginning of July.