CFP: The Politics of Postcoloniality: Contexts and Conflicts (5/5/03; 10/24/03)

Call for Papers

THE POLITICS OF POSTCOLONIALITY: CONTEXTS AND CONFLICTS

to be held at McMaster University, 24 October 2003

Plenary Speakers: Diana Brydon, Asha Varadharajan, and Himani Bannerji

Is it time to move "beyond postcolonialism," as San Juan, Jr. maintains? Is
postcolonial theory now in its final death throes, as Michael Hardt and
Antonio Negri contend? Or are predictions of postcolonialism's demise
overexaggerated claims that fail to accurately envision the future of the
discipline?

Just as postcolonialism appears to have succeeded in achieving widespread
institutional legitimacy, critics from various quarters are anticipating its
end. But of course even if announcements of postcolonialism's end are rather
recent, postcolonialism has been plagued by life-threatening controversies
from within and outside it virtually since its inception as a discipline.
Indeed, if there has been one major, recurring argument that has gained
force in the course of the development of postcolonialism, it is that its
location within the milieu of the university-and particularly the
Anglo-American university-renders it at least partially remote from the
material realities of everyday oppression whose very existence postcolonial
critics claim to interrogate and resist. In this vein, Aijaz Ahmad, Arif
Dirlik, Benita Parry, and Ella Shohat, among others, have asked that the
concerns of the field be diverted away from discursive concerns and toward
more properly materialist ones. These thinkers often denounce what is
perceived to be the field's almost exclusive and narcissistic focus on
exilic, diasporic, and hybrid perspectives, particularly as these relate to
metropolitan centers in countries such as Canada, the United States, and
Australia.

While these arguments are hardly new, and have-to the extent that they are
routinely cited as an almost obligatory gesture in much postcolonial
criticism-even accrued an aura of banality, the stalemate that they have
created has yet to go away. If the calls for postcolonialism's eminent
death are premature, however, what are the new directions of
postcolonialism, and how can we move beyond some of the many limits of the
field that so many critics have outlined, often very vehemently? Without
moving "beyond postcolonialism" as San Juan advises, how can we move beyond
the ultimately debilitating theory/practice or aesthetics/politics divide
that continues to beleaguer the field? How can postcolonial intellectuals
forge connections between their work and the many issues of injustice and
inequality that operate in the world? Other questions we could ask might
include (but are not limited to) the following:

*What possible trajectories might postcolonial studies take in the
twenty-first century?
*What are the politics of postcolonial theory and criticism's institutional
location, as well as the implications of these politics?
* What is the role of the postcolonial intellectual?
* What opportunities does the study of literature afford postcolonial
scholars?
*How interdisciplinary should postcolonial studies be? What are the
challenges, limits, and possibilities of interdisciplinarity for
postcolonial studies?
*What is the potential of postcolonial sub-fields such as Subaltern Studies?
*In what ways might we open up postcolonial studies to other fields of
inquiry, such as area studies, cultural studies, globalization studies,
among others?
*How might we understand and undermine the "melancholia" (Seshadri-Crooks)
that besets postcolonial studies?
*What are the underlying reasons for current theoretical debates on
postcolonialism?
*What are the conditions of postcolonial transformation?

In the spirit of these questions and the desire to create a space for
discussion of them, we invite proposals for roundtable discussions and
panels on particular issues, questions and problems within the field. Such
proposals should be approx. 500 words and include participant bios and
abstracts. By "roundtable" we mean a group of 4-8 participants each
contributing a 5-8 minute statement followed by a larger discussion, and by
"panel" we mean a group of 3-4 participants each presenting papers closely
related to one another and of no more than 15 minutes each.

We also welcome proposals of approx. 500 words for individual papers. As
the conference will be discussion-oriented, however, potential participants
are asked to present shorter (15 min.) papers in order to allow time for
dialogue.

Proposals, preferably in electronic format, should reach conference
organizers by May 5, 2003.

By email: politicsofpoco_at_yahoo.ca

By snail mail: The Politics of Postcoloniality Conference Committee
Department of English, McMaster University
Hamilton, ON
L8S 4L9

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Received on Sun Mar 09 2003 - 18:01:30 EST