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UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER
SCHOOL OF LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE
CALL FOR PAPERS
Considering Autobiography:
The place of life-writing in literature and academia
29-30 June 2007
Over recent decades there has been a considerable growth of interest in
various forms of autobiographical writing. Having been summarily
dismissed by the various formalist orthodoxies of the previous century,
the autobiographical element now finds itself subject to enquiry from
both ends of the critical spectrum: traditionalists, who would seek to
reinstate the author at the heart of literary studies, see it as an
antidote to impersonality; contemporary theorists find that it
exemplifies and problematises issues foregrounded by postmodernist and
poststructuralist thinking, such as genre instability and the
indeterminacy of meaning.
This conference invites those from all parts of the spectrum to explore
the function of autobiography in literary studies and within particular
authors’ works. The scope of the conference is international and
organizers welcome contributions from scholars working in all areas of
contemporary literature. Possible areas for papers might include:
· theory and practice of life-writing
· (auto)biographical criticism
· theories of genre and generic distinctions
· gender issues
· theories of self and identity
· historical fiction
· issues of intentionality and referentiality
· theories of the text and textual autonomy
· questions of authorship and authority
· comparative and/or cross-cultural studies
· the critical reception of autobiography and the autobiographical
dimension
It is the organizers’ intention to publish selected contributions as a
book with a clearly unified theme that would make an important
contribution to current critical debate on autobiographical discourses.
Deadline for abstracts 2 October 2006
Proposed date for Conference 29-30 June 2007, University of Ulster,
Coleraine
Contact:
Dr Stanley Black
Hispanic Studies
Humanities Research Institute
University of Ulster
Coleraine
N. Ireland
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Dr Tim Hancock
English Studies
Humanities Research Institute
University of Ulster
Coleraine
N. Ireland
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