New Materialisms and Economies of Excess: An International Conference

September 29 – October 1, 2016
Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Organized by the Department of Comparative Literature

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Rebecca Comay, Jacques Lezra, Eric L. Santner

"general economy defines...the explosive character of the world"
Georges Bataille

In the past fifteen years, so-called new materialisms have radically reshaped our way of thinking about matter by pointing to an excessiveness that determines the very materiality of matter. As Diana Coole and Samantha Frost have argued: "materiality is always something more than 'mere' matter: an excess, force, vitality, relationality, or difference that renders matter active, self-creative, productive, unpredictable." At a time where not only the humanities and the social sciences face a renewed interest in materialism, but also where economies around the globe are facing crises brought on by their own excesses, this conference seeks to interrogate the resources that new materialisms might provide for reflecting upon the ways in which economy might attest, even in its failures, to the co-implication of matter and excess.

The Department of Comparative Literature at Emory University invites scholars from across the disciplines to submit proposals that, in taking into account the encounter between matter, economy, and excess, seek to call into question and open new avenues for rethinking our understanding of literature, politics, agency, time, life, and language. Papers and panel discussions (3-4 papers) may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:

The new materialist turn in feminist deconstruction
New materialism and libidinal economies
Beyond/before economy: speculations on contingency
New materialism and unemployable negativities
Plasticity in the age of finance capital
Uneconomical languages: the surplus of literature
Ancient materialisms
Base materialism
Trauma and excess
New materialist thinking and postcolonial studies
Biopolitics: vital and spectral materialisms
Atheist Materialism
The Exigency of Excess: Madness, Reason, and Writing

Proposals should include: a title, abstract of 250 words, and on a separate page, the author's name, brief C.V., institutional affiliation, complete contact information, and email address.
Deadline for submission of proposals: MARCH 1, 2016.
Please submit proposals or questions to Matías Bascuñán, Ryan Fics, Rachel Gardner, and Stephanie Johnson at comparative.lit@emory.edu.