[Bilimsel Haber] CFP: Literature in Times of Violence (India) (8/30/06; MELUS-India, 3/22/07-3/24/07)

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

MELUS-INDIA

(The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United
States - India Chapter)

&

MELOW

(The Society for the Study of the Multi-Ethnic Literatures of the World)
will hold a conference on LITERATURE IN TIMES OF VIOLENCE in Chandigarh,
on: 22-24 March 2007


THEME FOR MELUS-INDIA:
"LITERATURE IN TIMES OF VIOLENCE: THE AMERICAN RESPONSE"

The Keynote Address will be delivered by
Prof Emory Elliott
Distinguished Professor of English
University of California
Riverside, CA


THEME FOR MELOW:
"CONTEMPORARY WORLD LITERATURES IN TIMES OF VIOLENCE"

This will be the Eighth International Conference of MELUS-INDIA
and the Second International Conference of MELOW. The MELOW Conference
will dove-tail into the MELUS-India Conference.

The major theme:

Out of the quarrels with ourselves, if we believe Yeats, literature is
created. In fact it is not just the quarrel with ourselves but also the
turbulence of the times that is responsible for the production of
literature. These are times of upheaval and violence - when one is
assaulted physically, emotionally and psychologically from all quarters.
  Despite the trauma, however, one survives and carries on the best way
possible. Artists continue to produce works of art, musicians create
music and writers compose their masterpieces. But, one may ask, how does
literature respond to the legacy of mass violence and political
conflict? Does the creative mind buckle under the pressures or does it
rise above them all to create mournful music? And how does the reader
respond to the various tensions that go into the making of great
literature? What models are available for understanding these literary
responses to the turbulence of the times? Do poetry, fiction, drama and
film help us find words and images to understand national catastrophe?
Can literature narrate mass violence? Does it try to escape violence?
Can it be a substitute for violence? Is it a cure or a panacea?

We are looking for papers that discuss the theme, problem, object, or
practice of violence.

The MELUS-India 2007 Conference will explore these and related issues,
taking up diverse genres - literature, cinema, theatre, media, popular
culture, etc. The focus will be American Literature but papers which
cross borders and disciplines are encouraged. 250-word abstracts related
to the theme are invited.

Tentatively, the conference will be divided into (but not restricted to)
the following panels:

The American Frontier--violence and conquest
The Civil War--Edmund Wilson's Patriotic Gore
Racial Violence--Black Experience
Domestic Violence-confessional women's poetry
Vietnam Experience
Film and Fiction after 9/11
Violence and Visual Interpretation
Violence and Hollywood Film/Reggae and hate music
Empire and Egalitarianism-Issues of History, Empire and Culture in
American Literature


The MELOW 2007 Conference will explore the same issues, focusing on
literatures of the world. 250-word abstracts are invited, related to
literature of the last fifty years.

The tentative division of panels will be:

Ethnic violence
Gender related violence
Violence of Partitions and Borders
Revolutionary Violence
Violence of Exile and Displacement
Violence and the African Experience
Relationship between boundaries and violence
The Holocaust experience
Violence of exile



For both conferences we are seeking papers that deal with issues related
- but not confined - to race, ethnicity, identity, and gender,
in literary texts, films, popular culture, media. Comparatist and
interdisciplinary perspectives are encouraged. 250 word abstracts may be
emailed latest by Sept 30, 2006, (as part of the text and NOT as
attachment) to mjaidka at sify.com, with a copy to anilraina at glide.net.in=20

Members and non-members of MELUS-India / MELOW may submit abstracts
(with the understanding that they will attend the conference). Abstracts
received  will then be examined by the Conference Committee. Delegates
whose abstracts are accepted will be invited to submit individual papers.

Abstracts may be submitted on any topic that relates to the themes of
MELUS-India or MELOW but only one abstract will be accepted from an
individual. All abstracts should include the following information:

       Name, brief CV and contact information of the participant.
       Whether the abstract is being proposed for MELUS-India or MELOW.
       Title of the proposed paper.
       Main issues to be examined in the paper.


NOTE: Membership of MELUS-India / MELOW is not required at the time when
abstracts are submitted. Non-members may join the Association after the
acceptance of their papers.


Deadlines:

Abstracts of Individual papers to be sent by: August 30, 2006
Acceptance of Individual abstracts will be dispatched by: Oct 1, 2006.


For any clarification contact:

Manju Jaidka (Secretary, MELUS-India, MELOW) Email: mjaidka at sify.com
or
Anil Raina (Treasurer) Email: anilraina at glide.net.in

our website: www.melus-melow.org


          ==========================================================
               From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List