cfp.english.upenn.edu

Attention is increasingly regarded by cognitive scientists and evolutionary anthropologists as a faculty whose development in human animals is constitutive of what it means to be human. This conference invites papers on (1) the ways in which literary texts encode this faculty (tropologically, discoursively, narratologically, ideologically), and/or (2) the ways in which theories of reading have recognized or underestimated the arts and techniques of attention. We particularly invite contributions developing or dismissing the suggestion that literature offers privileged insight into the function of attention as a possibility condition for the imagination, for agency, and for community formation.

The conference aims to promote active scholarly discussion, so it is our intent not to organize parallel sessions, thus providing everyone with an opportunity to attend all presentations of interest. Each participant will have approximately 20 minutes for presentation, which will be followed by a 10-minute Q&A session and discussion.

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words to the Organizers at taoa2013@gmail.com as an attached Word or PDF file (do not paste your abstract into the body of your email!), and indicate your name and affiliation (if applicable) as well as whether you need any kind of multimedia equipment (projector, etc.) for your presentation. A major academic publishing house has already expressed interest in publishing a selection of papers in a post-conference volume.

The deadline for abstracts submission is 12 PM, January 31, 2013.
We are looking forward to receiving your proposals! See you in Budapest!

Best regards,

on behalf of the Organizing Committee:
Katalin G. Kállay
Rebeka Sára Szigethy
Ádám T. Bogár