Intimacy and Exteriority
ACLA Annual Conference Seminar, Princeton University, March 23-26, 2006

Mon semblable, mon frère

Deadline for proposal submissions: Nov. 30, 2005

 From Petrarch, who wrote familiar letters to his classical models, to
Derrida, who could elide the boundary between his own voice and the
voices of his texts to powerful effect, a disarming sense of intimacy
between reader and text has been a consistent aspect of humanistic
practise. Yet beside the extraordinary proximity achieved in humanistic
reading there always seems to open a great distance, as though we are
never so far away from our texts as when we are closest to them. In
Humanism and Democratic Criticism Edward Said referred to this twinning
of intimacy with exteriority under the headings of receptivity and
resistance, but analogous formulations can be found in ethnography,
ethics, political theory, and fiction.

We wish to explore how the simultaneity of intimacy and exteriority has
been articulated in different times, places, and discursive modes.
Readings, comparative or otherwise, of literary, theoretical,
philosophical, or critical works are welcomed, as are broader original
formulations on the theme. Papers that can enact the theme at the same
time as they discuss it are especially welcome. Topics and authors might
include the philosophy of friendship, Derrida/Nancy on touch,
figurations of intimacy in fiction and poetry, the possession of
language, intimacies in religious experience; but this is not, of
course, an exclusive list.

Papers will be presented as a seminar at the annual conference of the
American Comparative Literature Association; proposals for this seminar,
including title and a 250-word abstract, should be submitted at the
ACLA's conference web site
(http://webscript.princeton.edu/~acla06/site/index.php), selecting
"Intimacy and Exteriority" as the desired panel.

For more information, contact sgurd_at_alcor.concordia.ca

--Sean Alexander GurdAssistant Professor, Ancient Greek StudiesDepartment of Classics, Modern Languages and LinguisticsConcordia University1455 de Maisonneuve WestRoom H-663Montreal, QC H3G 1M8CANADA-------------------------------(514) 848 2424 x5473------------------------------sgurd_at_alcor.concordia.ca ========================================================== From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List CFP_at_english.upenn.edu Full Information at http://cfp.english.upenn.edu or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu ==========================================================Received on Thu Nov 03 2005 - 13:13:28 EST