2010 Summer Seminar in Literary and Cultural Studies

The Department of English, the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, and West Virginia University present the 2010 Summer Seminar:

“After the National Paradigm: Literary History, Translation, and the Making of World Literature”

Seminar Leader: Rebecca Walkowitz, Rutgers University

Dates: May 20-23, 2010


Recent discussions of world literature have assumed that books begin in one place and then move out to other places. But there are many novels, written by migrants and for an international audience, that exist from the beginning in many places. In the light of transnational fiction, literary critics will need to ask how the multilingualism of the book changes the national singularity of the work. And philosophers of the nation will need to ask how the translation of literary texts, into more languages and faster than ever before, establishes networks of affiliation that are less exclusive and less bounded than the nation’s “community of fate.” What are the effects of translation and transnational circulation on national paradigms of literary culture? How can “born-translated” literature – literature that begins in more than one language – help us to conceive new approaches to social embeddedness and political solidarity?

This interdisciplinary seminar will consider these questions by examining new genres of transnational writing in the context of the global literary marketplace, the geography of the book, the history of close reading, and new concepts (network, system, republic, and so on) for describing the relationship among literatures worldwide. Our discussions will focus on three areas of research: recent debates about world literature, both as an object of study and as an analytic method; emerging scholarship on the ethics of comparison in translation studies and comparative literary studies; and contemporary works of “born-translated” literature, including digital literature. Literary works are likely to include fiction and nonfiction by J.M. Coetzee, Kiran Desai, Kazuo Ishiguro, Caryl Phillips, and the collaborative web artists known as Young-Hae Chang Heavy Industries.

Format:

The seminar will begin with a public lecture at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 20th and conclude at noon on Sunday, May 23rd. There are five, two-hour sessions during the seminar. In late April, registered participants will be provided with a list of readings to be completed before arrival at the seminar. Seminar sessions will be devoted to intensive discussion of the readings, with ample opportunities for further reading and informal discussions between sessions. The seminar group will also take part in film screenings, an art exhibition, and other cultural events. ASL and Voice-to-Text interpretation will be provided. We are dedicated to making this seminar as accessible as possible.

Seminar Site:

West Virginia University is located in scenic north central West Virginia about 75 miles south of Pittsburgh, PA and 200 miles west of Washington, DC. Rooms are available in accessible Lincoln Hall. Participants can choose single or double occupancy, and fully accessible rooms are available. One local hotel is within walking distance for those who prefer non-dormitory housing.

Registration Fees:

Graduate Students $250

Faculty $350

The seminar is limited to 50 participants.

To reserve a place in the seminar, a $100 deposit must be received and/or postmarked by Friday, April 23, 2010.

Click here for a registration form suitable for printing

For more information, email Marsha Bissett at marsha.bissett@mail.wvu.edu