Sultan Moulay Slimane University
Faculty of Arts and Humanities
English Studies Department
Beni Mellal, Morocco
The Research Laboratory on Culture and Communication (RLCC)
EXOTICISM / the EXOTIC
International Conference
21-22 April 2010
Call for Papers
Middle Ground invites the submission of essays for a special issue on Exoticism / the Exotic in colonial and Postcolonial thought and literature. The undertheorization of Exoticism / the Exotic, in Postcolonial thought and theory in the last 25 years, is compounded with the reliance of Postcolonial theorists and critics on Relativist models of Exoticism / the Exotic, for example, Said (1978; 1993) and Bhabha (1994).
* In the absence of a serious Postcolonial intervention on Exoticism, the Postcolonial critique of Orientalism and Exoticism has relied on the Relativist concepts of 'Exoticism' / Exotic' and their Eurocentric conceptual frameworks, while casting identification with the Exotic and writing back as Caliban as undermining colonial discourse and colonial representations.
* Does Gayatri Spivak's thesis on the "undecidability" of reading the colonial Other and 'native informant ' in cultural history (Spivak, 1999) really represent a breakthrough in Postcolonial readings and re-writings of the colonial Other and Exotic, or is it itself another configuration of the undertheorization of the colonial Other and Exotic in Postcolonial theory and criticism ? To what extent does Spivak (1999) open a space beyond the limitations of Said / Bhabha's interventions on Exoticism / Exotic?
* Is an ETHICAL reading and re-writing of the Exotic in cultural history ultimately possible within the Eurocentric conceptual framework of "Exoticism" / "Exotic"? To what extent would a Foucauldian archaeology of Exoticism / Exotic provide the basis for an effective Postcolonial intervention on colonial and Postcolonial Exoticism?
* Does Postcolonial Exoticism -- the Postcolonial recovery and celebration of the Exotic in Postcolonial thought and literature -- represent an effective challenge to Exoticism as a major cultural phenomenon of colonial culture, or does it merely represent a cultural impasse ?
Is Victor Segalen's re-definition of Exoticism / Exotic relevant to Postcolonial theory and criticism?
* To what extent is the assimilation of Victor Segalen's Exoticist project into Orientalism and the French colonial tradition of Exoticism convincing? Does not Segalen's Exoticism project represent a major epistemological possibility for a non-hegemonic and non-assimilationist cultural inscription of the Exotic in Postmodern thought and culture? Does not the assimilation of Segalen's writings on Exoticism into the colonial tradition run the risk of homogenizing such important Postmodern trends represented by Segalen and French Surrealist Exoticists with the colonial tradition?
* To what extent is the assimilation of Postmodern trends of Exoticism -- exemplified by Segalen, Henri Michaux, Paul Morand, Michael Ondatjee, Paul Bowles, among others, into Eurocentrism, colonial Exoticism, and Orientalism -- challenged by the re-positioning of Self/Other, the West /Exotic in such writers? In what ways do such writers and their Exoticist projects break beyond Eurocentrism , colonial Exoticism, and Orientalism, and provide new grounds for cultural encounters involving the West / Exotic ?
We invite 20-minute papers from across the disciplines, including interdisciplinary work, that address any aspect of the topic of exoticism/the exotic, such as:
- Colonial/Postcolonial forms of exoticism
- Postcolonial Critique of the practices/discourses of exoticism
- Exoticism and the issue of nation, race, gender
- The Exotic/Exoticism in the Visual Arts
- Exoticism and indigeneity
- The West as Exotic
- Post-exoticism
A selection of papers will be published after the conference.
Please send proposals of up to 500 words and a short biographical résumé via e-mail (as Word 1997-2003 attachments) to the following professors on behalf of the organizing committee:
Mohamed S. Syad at anbmss@gmail.com
Moulay Mustapha Mamaoui at m_mamaoui@yahoo.fr
The deadline for sending proposals is 1st December, 2009. Acceptance of proposals will be sent on 15th January, 2010.
Conference Fees:
The conference fee is € 50. It includes:
Conference pack
Coffee break refreshment
Farewell dinner party
Accommodation:
Hotel El Bassatine (within walking distance of the University)
(€42 full board per single person/per night)
Telephone +212 (0) 523 482 247
For more information, please follow the links:
http://www.fr.asiarooms.com/morocco/beni_mellal/al_bassatine.html
Airports
Menara Marrakesh Airport (3hrs drive/taxi ride to the Hotel in Beni Mellal)
Mohamed V Casablanca Airport (3hrs drive/taxi ride to the Hotel in Beni Mellal)
Hotel reservations and rides from airport to Beni Mellal can be made by the organizers upon request.
The organising committee:
Professor Asma Agueznay
Professor Khalid Chaouch
Professor Mohamed Rakii
Professor Cherki Karkaba
We look forward to your participation