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H-ASIA December 27, 2010 Call for papers: "Figuring the Past: The Literary and Historical Imagination," University of Delhi, 3-5 March 2011 *********************************************************************** From: H-Net Announcements <announce@MAIL.H-NET.MSU.EDU> Call for Papers interactions of history and literature Location: India Call for Papers Date: 2011-01-15 (in 19 days) Date Submitted: 2010-12-23 Announcement ID: 181636 Figuring the Past: The Literary and Historical Imagination, 3-5 March 2011, University of Delhi We invite papers that explore the interactions of history and literature including specifically the contemporary historical novel. Papers focusing on other artistic forms, on film or on related debates in other disciplines are also welcome. ---- The difference between historian and poet is, according to Aristotle, that the one describes the thing that has been, and the other a kind of thing that might be. He sees a clear and evident distinction between a historian, who describes events and a writer, who invents them. This distinction has been the subject of debate over the last few decades with some calling it into question and others looking more closely at the relationship between the two. The debate has moreover taken place in the midst of rapid and radical changes brought on by the forces of globalisation eroding the national frameworks within which literature and history have for so long been viewed. In the field of history this has driven efforts to evolve transnational or global perspectives and to questions about the colonial and imperialist dimensions of much of modern history. In literary studies this has fuelled the revisiting of canonical texts to see how they are embedded in and reflect these dimensions and their impact on the emergence of genres, literary movements, narrative practices. A further aspect of these new ways of seeing is the increasingly interdisciplinary practice of cultural history, the turn to questions of cultural memory, and the focus on popular culture and popular fiction to provide insights into the mentalities and anxieties of past ages. The contemporary boom of the historical novel, a literary genre that embodies the complex interdependence of history and literature, underscores the relevance of the debate. Initially emerging as a vehicle for popularizing national histories, the historical novel appears today to reflect a very different sense of the world. Its protagonists seem to be increasingly drawn from the margins of society, from the subaltern classes. In place of (his)story, we often have (her)story. And it seems to be less concerned with constructing a singular identity than with questioning this idea. Are these observations generally valid? And why this resort to history in times that exhort us daily to forget the past and focus on the future? Even as we reflect on the ways in which history and literature figure the past, our concerns are with the present, and with its no less compelling conflicts and crises. We invite papers that explore the interactions of history and literature in the light of these concerns. Papers focusing on other artistic forms, on film or on related debates in other disciplines are also welcome. Department of Germanic and Romance Studies, University of Delhi, Delhi - 110007 Phone: (91-11)27666426 Email: mazumdars@gmail.com Visit the website at http://grs.du.ac.in/conferencesWorkshops/conference_2011.html H-Net reproduces announcements that have been submitted to us as a free service to the academic community. If you are interested in an announcement listed here, please contact the organizers or patrons directly. Though we strive to provide accurate information, H-Net cannot accept responsibility for the text of announcements appearing in this service. Send comments & questions to H-Net Webstaff at URL <webstaff@mail.h-net.msu.edu> H-Net Humanities & Social Sciences Online Hosted by Matrix at Michigan State University Copyright (c) 1995-2011 ************************************************************************ To post to H-ASIA simply send your message to: <H-ASIA@h-net.msu.edu> For holidays or short absences send post to: <listserv@h-net.msu.edu> with message: SET H-ASIA NOMAIL Upon return, send post with message SET H-ASIA MAIL H-ASIA WEB HOMEPAGE URL: http://h-net.msu.edu/~asia/
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