Autism and Representation Friday 24th Feb 2006

A colloquium hosted by the Association for Research in Popular Fictions at Liverpool John Moores University

This colloquium seeks to consolidate, encourage & advance the growing body of cultural analysis concerned with cognitive disabilities, especially autism.

The rising rate of diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorders coupled with the popularisation of neurological research (not to mention the popularity of a certain well known novel) has made autism the disorder 'de rigueur' for the beginning of the 21st century.

This colloquium aims to map out the discursive challenges, limits, dangers and potentialities of this cultural phenomenon.

Does autism represent a paradigm shift for cultural studies, or indeed, the humanities? How, in the reflexive awareness of the influence of our work, can cultural theorists respond to such a phenomenon while respecting the integrity of autists and their communities?

Topics may include (but are not limited to):

Autism and art

Autism and history

Autism and the media

Autism and literature

Autistic creativity

Autism and poetry

Autism and the internet

Autism and advocacy

Autism and gender

Autism and popular cinema

Autism and documentary

Autism and childhood

Autism and adulthood

The contemporary 'rediscovery' of autism

Autism, cognitive impairment and contemporary disability theory

Autism and psychoanalysis

Medicalised discourses of autism

Contemporary representations of neuroscientific research

Photography and Autism

Autism and Genre

Autism and autobiography/life writing

We seek papers from any perspective within the humanities that addresses the cultural impact of different articulations of autism.

Abstracts of 250 words with a brief biography are invited for submission by 1st Nov 2005. Please submit to mcairose_at_livjm.ac.uk

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Received on Mon Aug 22 2005 - 10:51:28 EDT