The Borders of Realism in 20th Century Narrative Literature
International Conference
Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium), 1-3 December 2004
The term realism has been traditionally associated with the literary=20
production of the second half of the 19th century, its aesthetic program=20
(in reaction to Romanticism and Idealism) as well as socio-historical=20
conditions such as the growing consciousness of the bourgeoisie, the birth=
=20
of European nations, the changes engendered by the industrial revolution,=20
etc. These forms of realism (social, bourgeois, poetic) based on=20
verisimilitude and the representation of the real were nevertheless=20
challenged by the aestheticizing and symbolist fin-de-si=E8cle. Although it=
=20
has lost its relevance in 20th century approaches, the concept of realism=
=20
still occupies a central position in intellectual debates which have been=20
increasingly concerned with new realisms: magical realism, poetic realism,=
=20
new and neo realism(s), surrealism, mythical realism, new objectivity,=20
socialist realism, etc. This will to renew realism, to erase its borders=20
has been most obvious since the avant-gardes. The 20th century has=20
witnessed both the refusal of traditional realism as an aesthetical=20
principle as well as its constant presence as a reference concept when=20
challenged by an attempt to go beyond a rigid vision of art and reality.
We invite papers that examine what could be called the realist paradox or=20
borderzones of realism in Western literatures in French, Italian, German,=20
Spanish, English or Dutch. Three perspectives are proposed:
1. conceptual perspectives which will consider the recent theoretical=
=20
approaches (both literary and philosophical);
2. historical-literary approaches which will link the shifts and=20
ruptures in literary movements which are linked with different=20
relationships to reality in art;
3. thematic or stylistic analyses which examine the blurring of=20
dichotomies which have founded the apprehension of the real in 20th century=
=20
literature such as subjectivity/objectivity, technology/primitive world.
Contributions are to be submitted to Hubert Roland (250 words) before June
1st 2004 by e-mail (roland@licg.ucl.ac.be) or to Hubert Roland - Universit=E9
catholique de Louvain - Facult=E9 de philosophie et lettres - 1, Place Blaise
Pascal - 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgique. During the conference
participants will have only 10 minutes to present their work, in order to
allow for lively discussion. A selection of papers will be published.
===============================================
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
===============================================
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Mon May 31 2004 - 05:39:02 EDT