cfp.english.upenn.edu

CALL FOR PAPERS

JOHN ASHBERY IN PARIS – INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
March 11-14, 2010
Université Paris 7 Diderot – LARCA (Laboratoire de Recherche sur les Cultures Anglophones)
Université Paris Est (Paris 12/Marne-La-Vallée) – IMAGER (Institut des Mondes Anglophone, Germanique et Roman)

John Ashbery (born in 1927) is an outstanding American poet whose immense oeuvre represents more than 50 years of prolific writing in all genres: poetry of course, but also fiction, theater plays, literary essays, art criticism, translation. In addition, he is a graphic artist yet to be discovered. A major figure in the New York art scene from the 1950s on, Ashbery lived in Paris for 10 years between 1956 and 1965, thus comforting his position as a key participant in the transatlantic network of artists working at the cutting edge of literary creation. The fact that his poetry is anthologized both in mainstream and more marginal collections shows the rare capacity it has to transcend the great divide separating “canonical” writers from radical experimentalists.
This international conference will provide a critical overview of Ashbery’s work in as many dimensions and from as many angles as possible. More specifically, attention will be paid to the following topics:
- The Sister Arts (Poetry/Music/Painting) and Their Representation in Ashbery’s Writing
- The Reception of Ashbery’s Work in the United States and Abroad
- Landscapes of Reality, Landscape of Imagination in Ashbery
- Ashbery’s “Difficult Visibility”
- Innovation and Tradition in Ashbery
- High Culture and Popular Culture in Ashbery’s Writing
- John Ashbery and France
- Is Ashbery a Lyrical or a Formalist Poet?

The conference will also take advantage of being hosted in Paris during the “Printemps des Poètes” yearly events to pay tribute to John Ashbery by organizing readings of his poetry, gathering artists for contributions and putting together a “John Ashbery in Paris” exhibition.

Proposals for papers (title and 300-word abstract) should be sent before September 30, 2009, to the scientific committee:

Prof. Antoine Cazé, University Paris 7 Diderot: antcaze@wanadoo.fr
Prof. Abigail Lang, University Paris 7 Diderot: abigail.lang@wanadoo.fr
Prof. Olivier Brossard, University Marne-la-Vallée: olivier.brossard@univ-paris-est.fr
Prof. Vincent Broqua, University Paris 12: vincentbroqua@gmail.com