The ASNEL Conference on "Transcultural English Studies"  seeks to explore the challenges for the future development of English Studies on an international scale.

Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt/M

May 19-23, 2004

After some four decades of international research and teaching in the field variously designated as "Commonwealth Literature", "Postcolonial Literature" or "The New Literatures in English", a major paradigm shift seems to be on the way. Where previous approaches had emphasized cultural difference and sought to establish various forms of  "literary area studies", a spate of recent work has focussed on transcultural dimensions of (both "diasporic" and "regional") anglophone literatures. This development has arguably followed the trajectory of the New Literatures themselves: transcultural experiences, opportunities and predicaments are no longer exclusive concerns of what used to be conveniently labelled as "migrant writing", but have become central features of anglophone literatures across the globe - a process that increasingly undermines the habitual classification of literary texts in terms of national or regional literatures.

    The ASNEL Conference on "Transcultural English Studies" seeks to explore the challenges posed by this process for the future development of English Studies on an international scale. What theoretical and methodological resources are currently available for meeting these challenges? How can theories of transculturality and transnationality developed in other disciplines such as the social sciences or cultural anthropology be used productively in literary and cultural studies? How have neighbouring disciplines such as American Studies responded to transnational and transcultural challenges? How do transcultural issues and problematics emerge in anglophone literatures and in other media such as film? How do writers, artists and film-makers position themselves on issues of transculturality? These and other related questions will be explored in a number of thematic sections dedicated to the following topics:

    In addition, a number of anglophone writers and film-makers from all over the world have been invited to present their works and to share their perspectives on transculturality with the conference delegates as well as with a wider audience at public readings and discussions.

    The organizers welcome contributions pertinent to the conference theme that may not fit into the thematic sections outlined above. Online registration will be available by July 1st, 2003.

Deadline for paper proposals: December 31st, 2003