[EDLING:333] CFP: Cultures in Contact

[Francis M. Hult]

CALL FOR PAPERS

Cultures in Contact
10-11 June, 2005, English department, University of Basel, Switzerland

That cultures exist in and through contact has been axiomatic in our
disciplines for some time. One of the purposes of the conference will be
to take stock of existing paradigms for the discussion of such
contact—from translation studies to the prominence of notions such as
hybridity and diaspora in theory—and to attempt an overview that will
place them in juxtaposition and 'contact,' rather than viewing them as
self-contained approaches. At the same time, such an attempt will
inevitably raise the question of the impact that the concern with
cultures in contact has had on definitions of culture, and especially on
the theorization of their external and internal borders.
The topic of the conference transgresses the limits of the discipline of
English and demands a degree of inter- or transdiciplinariness. It also
necessitates reflection on its internal cohesion and diversity; it is to
be hoped that we can instigate a lively dialogue between Literature and
Linguistics, in particular, via papers that will address conflicts and
convergences between them in their dealings with cultures in contact, as
well as via a good balance of literary, linguistic and cultural studies
contributions.

We invite 20-minute papers. Please submit one-page proposals by 15
February, 2005 to the address below.
This is a SAUTE (Swiss Association of University Teachers of English)
biennial conference. A selection of papers will be published in SPELL
(Swiss Publications in Language and Literature).

Cultures in Contact, Department of English, University of Basel,
Nadelberg 6, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland.
sekretariat-englsem at unibas.ch (header: „Cultures in Contact“)