Please find below an update on the conference (Re)Thinking Caribbean
Culture.
Please note that in response to numerous requests, the deadline for
submitting abstracts has been extended to January 31, 2001.
Also, please note that the abstracts and all correspondence should now
be sent to gfranklin@uwichill.edu.bb.
Note, too, that further information on the conference is also available
at the following web site: http://humanities.uwichill.edu.bb
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THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES
Cave Hill Campus, Barbados
THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES
(RE)THINKING CARIBBEAN CULTURE
June 4 - 8, 2001
Believing . . . that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance
he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis
of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of a law but
an interpretive one in search of a meaning--Clifford Geertz (The
Interpretation of Cultures)
‘Caribbean culture’ is a term bandied about both within and without
academe with ever
increasing frequency. For example, at the bidding of the Vice
Chancellor, the University of
the West Indies has recently undertaken what has come to be called the
‘Cultural Studies’
initiative. But what exactly do we understand by terms such as these?
Indeed, how can we
effectively make use of concepts such as these in both our research and
teaching if we are not
clear in our own minds what these mean exactly?
This international and interdisciplinary conference will attempt to both
specify and assess the
dominant ways in which Caribbean culture in its various manifestations
has historically been
conceptualised. Some of the issues which will hopefully be addressed
include:
* what do we understand by terms such as ‘race,’ ‘racism,’ ‘gender,’
‘misogyny,’ ‘nationhood,’ ‘Africanness’ or ‘Europeanness,’
‘Afrocentrism,’ etc.?
* What is the nature of the relationship which exists between
language and the ‘world’ and how does this impact upon our study of
Caribbean literature?
* What exactly is ‘nation language’ and how does it accord with
recent research in linguistic theory?
* Is logic culturally-specific or is it a universal phenomenon?
* Can truth-claims about the Caribbean past be ‘objective’ or
‘scientific’?
* What are the major ways in which the Caribbean social formation has
come to be conceptualised and are these satisfactory?
Equally importantly, therefore, where particular orthodoxies may
arguably have become
enshrined or even stale or disproved, this conference will also seek to
explore alternative
perspectives from which Caribbean culture might / ought to be rethought.
Although the emphasis will be on the precise theoretical / philosophical
frameworks which
inform the study of particular aspects of Caribbean culture,
theoretically self-aware
contributions which seek to apply particular concepts (e.g. close
readings of literary or other
texts or discussions of specific historical controversies) are also
welcome.
The panels presently envisaged include:
* What is ‘culture’? What is ‘Cultural Studies’?
* Epistemic shifts in the study of Caribbean culture;
* The relationship between culture and identity;
* Critical issues in the study of Anglophone Caribbean literature and
related cultural practices (drama, film, etc.);
* Critical issues in the study of Francophone Caribbean literature
and related cultural practices (drama, film, etc.);
* Critical issues in the study of Hispanophone Caribbean literature
and related cultural practices (drama, film, etc.);
* Theorising language in the Caribbean;
* Caribbean historiography;
* Caribbean popular culture (music, carnival, etc.)
* Caribbean perspectives on education;
* Caribbean perspectives on epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, and
aesthetics;
* Religion in Caribbean culture;
* Conceptualising gender and misogyny in the Caribbean;
* Conceptualising sexuality and homophobia in the Caribbean;
* Conceptualising ethnicity, race and racism in the Caribbean;
* Africa and the Caribbean;
* Conceptualising diaspora and migration;
* Caribbean nationalism;
* The law and Caribbean culture;
* Economic development and Caribbean culture.
We are, of course, open to further suggestions.
The ultimate goal of this conference is the production of a
peer-reviewed collection(s)
devoted to the theorisation of Caribbean culture in its various
manifestations which will
assemble the most important contributions.
Dates: The week of Monday June 4 - Friday June 8, 2001
Venue: Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies,
Barbados, West Indies.
Deadlines: Abstracts (300-500 words) due: January 31, 2001;
Completed essays due: April 30,
2001.
Limits: Presentations must not exceed 15 - 20 minutes (5-7 pages
single spaced)
Contact Person: Mrs. Grace Franklin: gfranklin@uwichill.edu.bb
Conference Web Site: http://humanities.uwichill.edu.bb
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From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
CFP@english.upenn.edu
Full Information at
http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/
or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu
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