Writing under Socialism Past and Present: A Comparative ApproachCall for Papers
Papers are invited for an international symposium entitled Writing under Socialism to be held at the University of Nottingham on 11-12 July 2008.
Please send abstracts of no more that 200 words to Sara Jones ([mailto]agxsmj@nottingham.ac.uk[/mailto]) and Meesha Nehru([mailto]asxmn@nottingham.ac.uk[/mailto]) by 1 February 2008.
Using a comparative approach that crosses disciplines and continents, this conference asks for a re-evaluation of the position of writing under socialist states past and present using new material, theories and methodologies that have come to light since 1989. We invite contributions from researchers working on literary production in China, Cuba, the GDR, the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, in order to initiate a dialogue between researchers working in very different fields.
Possible areas for discussion include, but are not restricted to:
- Interaction of writers with Party functionaries. Role of publishers, periodicals, booksellers and literary critics and Writers’ Unions as mediators between the state, writer and reader
- Methods of censorship and control
- Socialist cultural policy in theory and in practice and definition of writer/intellectual under socialism
- Role and success of mass cultural movements in literary production and consumption
- Writing outside of the state apparatus: underground and unofficial literary movements
- Theoretical approaches to the study of writing under socialism
Papers focusing on writing under any socialist state are welcome, including, but not restricted to: Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, GDR, Cuba, Nicaragua and China.
Professor Michel Hockx (SOAS) will give the keynote address entitled: "Print Culture and the New Media in Post-Socialist China".
The language of the conference will be English. Publication of selected papers is envisaged.
Sara Jones and Meesha Nehru
School of Modern Languages and Cultures
University of Nottingham
University Park
Nottingham, NG7 2RD
United Kingdom
Email: [mailto]agxsmj@nottingham.ac.uk[/mailto]