italian-studies: Scholarly discussions in any field of Italian studies


INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE/CONFRENCE INTERNATIONALE

Pour la version française, voir annexe


THE VALUE OF LITERATURE IN AND AFTER THE SEVENTIES: THE CASE OF ITALY AND
PORTUGAL

11-13 March 2004

Utrecht University, The Netherlands


Call for papers

The seventies are generally characterized as a period of political extremism
and evoke contradictory images in national identities. This is certainly the
case in Italy and Portugal, where the clash between utopia and anti-utopia
has left deep traces in history, culture and literature. In Portugal, the
projected aims and concrete results of the April revolution of 1974 are the
main landmarks of this period. At the same time when the fall of the fifty
year-old dictatorship caused general euphoria, the country became involved
in a period of transition towards a democratic system in which both the
entry into the EU and the controversial decolonisation process play a
crucial role.
Italy during the seventies was the stage of contradictory ideological and
political movements. On the one hand we see a continuation of the '68 ideals
and on the other hand a hardening of the political fight that resulted in
the terrorism of the so-called 'leaden years'. The 1977 student revolution
in Bologna and the kidnapping of Aldo Moro in 1978 by the Red Brigades are
examples of this.

The aim of this international conference is to stimulate discussion about
the tension between national reality and international ideology in the
particular cases of Portugal and Italy. Participants are expected to reflect
on subjects that point in two directions: the relation between literature
and culture during this period and their political and social context, and
the heritage of the seventies in contemporary literature. Contributions may
focus either on Italy or Portugal or may address both. There will be ample
space for discussion in order to create a comparative perspective open to
Mediterranean or even European cultural studies.

To introduce the themes that will be debated during the conference the
following keynote speakers have been invited: the writers Eduarda Dionísio
and Antonio Tabucchi, and the critics Rui Bebiano and Marco Belpoliti. The
conference will be further structured around parallel sessions in which
papers no longer than 20 minutes can be presented. English and French are
the languages of communication.

The following themes may be addressed:

· The value of literature and the crisis of ideology
· Literary movements and social movements
· The role of the writer/intellectual between utopia and distopia
· Literature after the Avant-gardes: between reflux and regeneration
· Youth culture and literature and the heritage of the seventies
· Women's literature since the seventies
· The process of decolonisation in literature
· Literary representation of revolution and revolt
· Testimonies of the seventies: between diary and essay
· The seventies and the detective novel
· 'High', 'low' and 'camp': the debate on mass culture since the
seventies

Guidelines of submission
Please send the following to [log in to unmask] before 30 October 2003:

1. A page on which you clearly state:

Name
Address
Email
Phone number
Title of paper
Institutional Affiliation
Short Curriculum Vitae (no more than 100 words)

2. An abstract in English or French (no more than 300 words), in Word.



A conference website with detailed information on registration, location,
accommodation, etc. will be set up shortly.

Notification of accepted abstracts
You will be notified by 15 December 2003 if your abstract is accepted for
presentation. The selection will be made by the organisers of the conference
and an academic committee. There will be room for a maximum of 40 papers.

Organising Institution
Utrecht University, OSL (Netherlands Graduate School for Literary Studies)

Organising Committee
· Dr. Monica Jansen (Universiteit Utrecht):
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· Dr. Paula Jordão (Universiteit Utrecht):
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Academic Committee
Prof. Harald Hendrix (Universiteit Utrecht), Prof. Paulo de Medeiros
(Universiteit Utrecht), Prof. Douwe Fokkema (Universiteit Utrecht), Prof.
Walter Geerts (Universiteit Antwerpen), Prof. Remo Ceserani (Università
degli Studi di Bologna), Prof. Helena Buescu (Universidade Clássica de
Lisboa) and Prof. Isabel Pires de Lima (Universidade do Porto).



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