“Intercultural Kafka”

July 20^th – 23^rd, 2009 – Rauischholzhausen Castle /

Congress Center of the Justus-Liebig-University Gießen, Germany

 

 

 

Call for Papers

 

 

Franz Kafka’s œuvre, in many respects still enigmatic, is at the core of a manifold and productive academic reception. Also in the 21^st century, researchers from all parts of the world seek to develop innovative approaches – within literary studies and beyond. Thus, they contribute to a diverse discussion of the author’s personality and work. Various interdisciplinary and intercultural research contexts have become indispensable and invite closer attention to Kafka’s work, investigating the capabilities of cooperative approaches and the particular meaning of Kafka for an intercultural dialogue.

 

In cooperation with the Gießener Graduiertenzentrum Kulturwissenschaften (GGK), the Deutsche Kafka Gesellschaft will hold this year’s international conference on “Intercultural Kafka”. The central question of the conference is to what extent current Kafka research can address problems of intercultural and interdisciplinary cooperation. Which methods, possible interpretations, and approaches to Kafka’s work are appropriate for considering intercultural references (e.g. intertextual and inter-discursive relations or Kafka’s work as contact zone according to Mary Louise Pratt)? Which new perspectives on Kafka’s work may emerge from employing theoretical approaches for cultural exchange or cultural encounter?

 

We invite contributions dealing with, but not limited to, the following issues:

 

Which intercultural connections are recognizable in Kafka’s work?

• Orientalism;
• Postcolonialism;
• Visions of the USA;
• Travel journals;
• Multicultural urban topographies.

 

Which possibilities and methods unfold for an intercultural reception of Kafka’s work

• by authors in Germany and other countries;
• due to geographical differences in popular reception;
• through the transfer of interpretational approaches between German studies in Germany and other countries?

 

Papers will comprise 30 minutes presentation and 30 minutes for discussions. Publication in an essay volume edited by the Deutsche Kafka Gesellschaft is possible. This compilation will be a compendium to the thematic complex “Intercultural Kafka”.

 

This call for papers explicitly addresses younger researchers.

 

Abstracts of no more than 2000 characters plus a short biographical note (both documents should fit on one A4 page, MS-Word file), may be submitted no later than February 8^th, 2009. We additionally ask for up-to-date contact details as well as institutional affiliations. Please hand in your applications via e-mail to tagung@kafka-gesellschaft.de. Applicants may expect replies by week 8 of 2009.