CFP: Japan-Korea Joint Symposium (25 Dec.; 19-21 Aug; Kanazawa)

Association for the Study of Literature and Environment (ASLE)
Japan-Korea Joint Symposium August 19-21, Kanazawa, Japan

PLACE, NATURE, LANGUAGE
Thinking about Now in Japanese and Korean Environmental Literature

Confirmed Keynote Speakers: Ko Un and Kazue Morisaki

The Association for the Study of Literature and Environment in Japan (ASLE-Japan) and ASLE-Korea invite proposals for an international symposium, Place, Nature, Language: Thinking about Now in Japanese and Korean Environmental Literature, to be held from August 19-21, 2007, in Kanazawa, Japan.

We welcome proposals dealing with English-language representations of Korean and Japanese environmental issues and literature. Proposals dealing with the writings of Gary Snyder, especially in regard to his activities in Asia, are also particularly welcome. Translation services will be provided to make papers and presentations available in English, Japanese, and Korean.

The cultural shores of Japan and Korea have been washed by the waves of westernization and modernization since the latter half of the nineteenth century. Our daily lives, the places that have supported us, and the relationship between humans and the natural environment have undergone fundamental changes. Modernization has brought about economic security and the establishment of social capital. It has also introduced a global perspective that has raised our environmental awareness. At the same time, however, our communal societies based on traditional values, the bonds between humans and nature that this ensures, and the wisdom handed down from pre-modern life now face imminent extinction. With these considerations in view, this symposium will pursue the possibilities that environmental literature and thought can offer for our common future.

Since their founding, the ASLE organizations in both of our countries have aimed at widening horizons by drawing on the studies of environmental literature and thought of other countries. The purpose of this symposium is to share the work that has been generated in environmental literature and ecocriticism by both countries and to deepen our mutual understanding. Because the environment is a global issue and at the same time a local one, sending out to the rest of the world a body of work which has East Asia as its cultural basis carries great significance. This symposium marks the first step in such an endeavor. It is hoped that our attempt will stimulate further activity in other parts of Asia. Proposals for papers are welcome from any part of the globe.

We welcome proposals that discuss the following themes:
-- Modernism and environmental discourses in Korea and Japan
-- Expressions of nature, humans, and place in Korean and Japanese literature
-- Ecocriticism in Korea and Japan today
-- The future of literature and the environment: proposals from East Asia
-- Gary Snyder in Asia

In addition, a comparative approach on works of literature and ideologies of Asia in comparison with those of the United States, the United Kingdom, and other cultural areas will also be welcome.

Please send your one-page proposal and a short CV by December 25, 2006 to:

Shogo IKUTA
Department of Law
Kanazawa University Kakuma
Kanazawa, Ishikawa 920-1192
JAPAN
Email: shogo@kenroku.kanazawa-u.ac.jp

If you have any questions, contact: Masami Raker YUKI (Conference organizer, ASLE-Japan) or, Simon Estok (ASLE-Korea liaison officer) E-mail: yuki@ge.kanazawa-u.ac.jp

Proposals will be reviewed according to their relevance to the topics of the symposium and the review results will be notified to the applicants by the end of February 2007. The workshop format is designed to stimulate discussion at the symposium. For this purpose, participants will be asked to send the final version of their papers (guidelines will be sent later with the notice of acceptance) by May 31, 2007. Please adhere strictly to this deadline since we will prepare a collection of papers in advance, to be circulated before the conference.