Professor Matthew Reynolds, University of Oxford
Dr Mia Spiro, University of Glasgow
As Spring 2021 approaches, there is hope that the season we associate with growth, re-emergence and new life will bring much-anticipated positive change. With vaccines expected to offer widespread medical protection and emotional relief, human life might return to something resembling ‘normality’. However, we are all too aware that this will not constitute a straightforward resumption, and that we are unlikely to live, work, travel or socialise in quite the same ways as we did before. Instead, we might view this period as one of ‘regeneration’: an ‘action of coming or bringing into renewed existence; recreation; rebirth’ (OED). This one-day conference will explore how such ideas find expression in Comparative Literature and Translation Studies.
‘Regeneration’ describes an intersection of the old and the new, signalling creation alongside a degree of continuity. It can be found everywhere – from bodily processes to ecological diversity, urban transformation to the revision and reinterpretation of history. But it is often the result of a crisis, occurring in the aftermath of wars, natural disasters, and of course pandemics. The term ‘regeneration’ is therefore closely associated with suffering, destruction, and upheaval, and is at times an indication of loss as well as a sign of potential gain or repair.
Though in many ways intended as a timely call for optimism, this conference sets out to interrogate the challenges involved in regeneration. The past year has forced us to confront problematic aspects of modern society; to reconcile a yearning for the familiar and an aversion to restrictions with a newfound appreciation of simplicity and an acceptance of change. With this context in mind, and drawing on resonant themes in literature and translation, we invite papers and posters that consider where, when, how and why regeneration takes place.
Topics and approaches may include, but are not limited to:
- Change versus continuity
- Crises and their consequences
- Ecocritical responses to the concept of regeneration
- Fantasy and (re)imagination
- Literary renaissances
- Medical humanities – regeneration in and around the body
- Postcolonial analysis
- Spiritual rebirth
- Style, genre, and the regeneration of literary form
- Text histories and the physical regeneration of literature
- Translation as a regenerative practice
- Turning points and seminal moments
Deadline for submissions: Wednesday 10 March 2021
Please send abstracts of no more than 250 words to smlc-pgr-conf@glasgow.ac.uk.
Follow the link for the conference website: Regeneration: 6th Annual Postgraduate conference in Comparative Literature and Translation Studies
Organised by Sophie Maddison and Elena Dardano, in collaboration with the Writing in Transit research cluster.
