cfp.english.upenn.edu

Keynote speakers

Ruth Amossy (Tel Aviv University)
Jean-Louis Dufays (UCL)
Charles Ramírez-Berg (Texas Austin)
Maarten van Delden (USC, California)
David Oubiña (UBA, Buenos Aires)

General Presentation

Over the past ten years, the concept of the 'stereotype' has become a subject of intense debate in literary studies, especially in Europe. Although in daily usage the term 'stereotype' often has a negative connotation, the theoreticians of stereotyping (Amossy, Dufays, Lippman) emphasize its indispensable and constructive role in processes of social communication, including art.

This conference, which brings together some of the most important specialists of the theory of stereotyping, seeks to apply this theoretical reflection (about stereotyping) to a relatively new field to its study: the Hispanic world.

The conference focuses on the past two decades in order to examine how, in a post-national context, literature and cinema offer new configurations of Hispanic identity. When writers and movie directors revert to existing stereotypes to rethink this identity, how do these figure in their work? Are existing stereotypes being recycled, or, on the contrary, are new ones being forged? Is Dufays's hypothesis confirmed, according to which postmodernity, in dealing with stereotypes, is characterized by a playful attitude — a to-and-fro between participation and distancing? If so, under which modalities does this attitude present itself (irony, satire, parody, the grotesque, …)? Can other uses be observed?

Call for Papers

The organizers of the conference invite proposals for papers on the following themes:

a) examples of concrete uses of stereotyping in literary (including essays) and cinematographical works related to the Hispanic world. Of particular interest are:

• papers that attend to the playful and creative attitude towards stereotypes.
• concrete examples of the rewriting of stereotypes of Hispanic identity, in particular those that inscribe 'hispanicity' in a post-national context.

b) theoretical reflections on the concept of stereotype and methodological proposals for its study; with particular attention to the Hispanic world.

Preference will be given to papers that incorporate (a) theoretical perspective(s) on the problem of stereotyping and identity in general. Each participant will dispose of 20 minutes for his/her presentation. A selection of papers will be published.

Submissions are welcome until May 1, 2009 at the following address: je@arts.kuleuven.be
Abstract length: 250 words
Language: Spanish. Papers in English or French are accepted as well.
The proposal is to be sent in PDF or Word format, stating a preliminary paper title, but without mentioning the author's name. In the accompanying mail, the following information is to be included:
a) mention of the conference title
b) author's name
c) institutional affiliation
d) title of the paper
e) bio-bibliographical note on the author

Authors will be notified of acceptance or rejection (via email) by June 20, 2009.

Registration
Click here: (http://www2.arts.kuleuven.be/info/formularioeljuego)

Additional information
For more information, please visit our website: http://www.arts.kuleuven.be/je/index.htm