Janine Sobers (University of Washington - Seattle)
jsob@****.com (Log-in to reveal)
The “East-West Literary Relations” session highlights the literary connections between East and West, with a particular interest in cross-disciplinary approaches exploring academic topics or methodologies within the fields of: literature, history, science, religion, philosophy, film, art, and music. Papers may engage with the conference theme, "Our Ruling Classes: Culture, Power, Conflict," but need not do so.
The distinction between East and West once held significant influence in knowledge production, ranging from voluminous travelogues from Western authors to the prosperity of Oriental Studies in academia of the 18th and 19th centuries. Postcolonial scholarship since the 1970s, including Said’s Orientalism and Spivak’s subaltern studies, sheds new light on the East/West distinction as a dynamic relationship, instead of two settled categories. As globalization significantly boosts the movement of humans, material goods, cultural products and texts, it gives rise to a wide range of imaginations, potentials, intellectual tools but meanwhile crises, conflicts and unequal distribution of power in the constantly changing geo-political landscapes.
The “East-West Literary Relations” session endeavors to continue this intellectual dialogue. We seek to foster a discussion that crosses various disciplines and methodologies, including but not limited to literature, history, science, anthropology, religion, philosophy, film, art, and music. We welcome papers highlighting the cross-cultural exchanges and encounters between “East” and “West,” or challenging binaries and dominant discourses, or further deploying alternative geocultural frameworks from any historical period. We are also interested in studies that provide critical perspectives on canonical literature, cinema and art, or studies on lesser-known works that spotlight marginalized voices and narratives. We welcome proposals both related to the conference theme, "Our Ruling Classes: Culture, Power, Conflict," and those not related.