[Discussion] CFP: Meaning in Motion (11/30/05; ACLA, 3/23/06-3/26/06)

[gpultar@cstgroup.org]

From: Ilan Safit <safit@earthlink.net>

"Meaning in Motion"
2006 American Comparative Literature Association Conference
March 23-26, 2006
Princeton University

The figure of "movement" or "flow" has become a frequent yet ambiguous term in
the language of theory. It follows, though, a long history of usage flowing back
at least as far as Heraclitus and the Atomists and running through Plato,
Aristotle, Descartes, Hobbes, Hegel, Kierkegaard and Bergson (to give only the
highlights). While remaining uninvestigated, the metaphors of movement and flow
seem to flood the critical and theoretical nomenclature of the twentieth and
twenty-first centuries. Think of terms and expressions like "stream of
consciousness," "the movement of thought," or "the movement of meaning"; think
of the notion of meaning as the effect of an incessant movement of signifiers,
the movement of deferral and difference, the movements of desire; think of
"lines of flight," the "image-movement," "speed" and "acceleration." Movement is
upon us, but what is it that we are saying when we apply the term "movement" (or
its related figures) to the study of meaning or composition in literature and
the other arts? What critical force does this term carry? What functions does it
fulfill? What makes it helpful, if it is, for textual analysis? What are its
philosophical history and ramifications? What has the new art form of the
moving-image contributed to the efficacy of this term or to our theoretical
understanding of a notion of motion?

Participants are invited to investigate these questions by putting them to
reflective practice.

This panel welcomes both studies of movement and of the metaphors of movement in
literature, film, philosophy, theory, rhetoric, and the arts. In other words,
participants are encouraged either to investigate aspects of flow and movement
in specific works/authors/media or to investigate the usage of metaphors of
movement in the meta-language that studies these fields. Ultimately,
participants are encouraged to do both by reflecting upon the meaning and usage
of the metaphors of movement as they are being put to analytical practice.

Some suggested general topics are:
- Movement and/of the Moving-Image
- Movement and/of Language
- Movement and Thought
- The Philosophical Concept of Movement
- The Dynamics of the Text

Paper proposals of 250 words for 15-20 minutes presentations should be submitted
through the ACLA web-form, at
http://webscript.princeton.edu/~acla06/site/?page_id=3D4 by November 30, 2005.
You are welcome to address questions and queries to the panel organizer via
e-mail at safit@earthlink.net.


Dr. Ilan Safit
Adj. Assistant Professor of Philosophy
Pace University, NYC




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