CFP: AJLS Annual Meeting (15 May; 2-4 Nov; Princeton)

The Sixteenth Annual Meeting
Literature and Literary Theory
November 2-4, 2007
Princeton University

CALL FOR PAPERS

What is literature? What is literary theory? What are the boundaries of
Japanese literature? Japanese literary theory? Discussions on these
questions are inexhaustible yet unavoidable in our study. These basic
questions govern our practices because they define our discipline as well
as our approaches to our objects of inquiry. In Japan and elsewhere,
historical contingencies have defined and redefined "literature" and
"literary theory"; numerous theoretical trends have further configured and
reconfigured the contours of "literature." The categories "Japan" and
"Japanese" too have gone through much transformation, further complicating
this line of inquiry. This three-day conference will revisit these basic
questions and attempt to rigorously explore the foundation of our study.
As Michel Foucault has shown, literature as we know it now is a 19th
Century invention. But works we categorize under the rubric "literature"
have existed since time immemorial and across the globe. Various
approaches have been taken to theorize literary works: in premodern Japan,
we have, for example, a variety of karon (poetic theories) such as the
famous "Preface" to the Kokinshuu by Ki no Tsurayuki and other
genre-specific treatises such as those on renga (linked verse) and haiku.
Discussions of prose narratives have also appeared throughout history.
Western literature, aesthetics, and philosophy entered Japan of the modern
period, and literature took a dramatic turn: the discipline of
"literature" was produced, along with a new sense of aesthetics and new
attitudes toward expression and form. Whether in the premodern or modern
era, theories thus not only offered paradigms by which to compose and
interpret their putative literary objects, but they often arose out of
complex negotiations with the varying forces of history. The above
questions cannot be divorced from the more recent theoretical trends,
evidenced in the surge of theories that we often categorize under the
blanket term "postmodernism" that have further reconfigured our literary
practices: these include post-structuralism, postcolonialism, feminism,
queer theory, and other theories of gender and sexuality to name a few.
Many such movements have questioned the basic tenets of our past and
present literary studies and hence the boundaries of "literature." How do
these theoretical perspectives define Japanese literature? What are their
strengths and weaknesses? What are the main theoretical issues governing
our study for literature today? This conference hopes to address such
issues and more. The scope of inquiry will range from ancient writings to
contemporary texts. We hope the participants will explore a variety of
issues, including but not limited to:

. Recent theoretical trends: their possibilities and limits
. Historical changes in how we perceive literature and literary theory
in Japan
. The transformation of the role of the author and his/her relation to
the literary production in the history of Japanese literature
. Historical development of literary theory from the premodern to modern
times.
. Shifting boundaries of "Japan" and "Japanese-ness"
. The mutual relationship between theory and practice and how they have
evolved in the history of Japanese literature
. The relationship between a chosen mode of discourse and its
"object"
. How theories of translation, cultural studies, and nationalism engage
with the production of Japanese cultural and literary boundaries
. Relationship between history, memory, and literature in Japan
. Relationship between politics and literature in Japan
. "Anti-theory" and "pro-theory" in the study of Japanese
literature

Deadline for receipt of abstracts of no more than 250 words is May 15,
2007. We welcome individual submissions as well as 3 or 4 person panel
proposals. To facilitate maximal audience participation, there will be
no formal discussants. Conference languages are English and Japanese.

Proposals should be submitted electronically to the conference website:
http://www.princeton.edu/ajls/
(NOTE: Site not working as of this posting. Please try later or contact the organizers directly.)

All other correspondence may be directed to the organizers,
Richard H. Okada and Atsuko Ueda via the contact information listed below:

AJLS 2007
Department of East Asian Studies
211 Jones Hall
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ 08544
ajls2007@princeton.edu

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PAPER/PANEL PROPOSAL FORM
Literature and Literary theory
DEADLINE: May 15, 2007

Title:



Name and Status:



Institution:



Address:



Telephone: Fax:



E-mail:


Please attach your 250-word proposal to this form and send to:
http://www.princeton.edu/ajls/