CALL FOR PAPERS: The Riddle of Devolutionary Identity
A One-Day Interdisciplinary Conference
University of Warwick, Humanities Research Centre (HRC)
~ Saturday 18th November 2006

With Papers and Poetry Readings Featuring:
Prof. Stephen Knight, Cardiff University.
Prof. Susan Bassnett, University of Warwick.
Medbh McGuckian, poet and feminist writer.
David Morley, poet and director of the Warwick Writing Programme.

Call For Papers
This interdisciplinary conference will bring together academics
working within the fields of Scottish, Welsh and Northern-Irish
literature. The central aim is to tackle recent debates on whether
cultural, social and psychological issues can be explored using
post-colonial theory particularly in relation to devolutionary
literature.

The organizers welcome a variety of approaches: historical,
sociological, linguistic, feminist and textual analysis. The
conference will deal with devolutionary identity in relation to three
main themes:

ï'§ The End of Britishness
Kirtsti Bohata writes of Britishness as 'a misleading label that
disguises English cultural hegemony and a project of assimilation'.
What are the pressures on Britishness? Can one think of contemporary
English Literature as 'devolutionary' too?

ï'§ The Limits of the Postcolonial
Who is 'excluded' from Postcolonial Studies? Various minority groups
seem to be under-represented within the field of postcolonial theory.
We are interested in proposals concerning British regions, but we
would also welcome papers on the relatively neglected literatures of
peoples such as Native Americans, Australian Aborigines and South
Pacific Islanders, Indo-Caribbeans, the Roma nations of Europe. What
is the current situation regarding hegemonic structures within the
discourse of postcoloniality?

ï'§ Difference and Complicity
In their definition of a minor literature, Deleuze and Guattari
suggest that in order for a minor culture to represent itself it must
subvert a major language by deterritorializing that language and
imbuing it with a minor tradition. Are devolutionary literatures
subversive and radical in subverting linguistic tradition or are they
more complicit with hegemonic Western values?

Deadline for Abstracts: 7th October
Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words for 20 minute papers.
Please send by e-mail (in the e-mail body or by attached Word
document) to:
Zoë Brigley (Z.Brigley.2_at_warwick.ac.uk) and Jonathan Morley
(jonmorley79_at_hotmail.com).

Registration:
For details on how to register for the conference, please contact the
University of Warwick HRC secretary Susan Dibben:
Susan.Dibben_at_warwick.ac.uk

Creative Responses: Deadline 7th October
Please note that to celebrate this conference, the Heaventree Press
are producing a special issue of their creative writing magazine,
Avocado. For details of the press, please see
www.heaventreepress.co.uk and for further details of the special
issue, contact Loveday Why (lovedayrose_at_hotmail.com).

--Zoë BrigleyEnglish and Comparative Literary StudiesThe University of WarwickCoventry CV47AL United KingdomE-mail: Z.Brigley.2_at_warwick.ac.ukBlog: www.blogs.warwick.ac.uk/zoebrigleyEportfolio: www.go.warwick.ac.uk/ep-ensdav ========================================================== From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP_at_english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://cfp.english.upenn.edu or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu ==========================================================Received on Thu Oct 05 2006 - 01:16:59 EDT