Call for papers: The 5th International Conference of the EACL: Estonian Association of Comparative Literature invites abstracts for the conference on "The Novel Genre in the Contemporary World Literature: A Leap or a Standstill?" The conference focuses on the position of the novel in the era of (late) postmodernism and globalization. The conference seeks to address the following issues: how has the novel reflected the accelerating social processes in the 21st century? Have there been any principal changes in the novel genre compared to the modernist/avant garde novel of the first forty years of the 20th century or the postmodernist textual practices of the novel as emerging in the 1970-s and 1980-s? Has the increasing commodification of society and onslaught of mass culture left any room for aesthetic-perceptual innovations in the novel genre? What is the dynamics between the national and the international in the novel genre on the level of creative processes, reception and distribution? Has the ever-growing globalization, contributing to the decomposition of national myths brought about a decline of national novelistic practises? How does the critical-theoretical discourse of the postmodern age relate to the novel genre? What "language"should the novel "speak" in order to maintain a dialogue with other cultures and nations without losing its national identity? Papers highlighting the aesthetic-perceptual position of the novel genre in different parts of the world at the start of the new millennium from the comparative theoretical and cultural perspective are particularly welcome. The main working language of the conference is English, but papers can be presented also in French, Spanish, and German. In the latter case, a summary of two to three pages in English should be mailed to the organizers by 15 September 2003 (the summaries will be made available at the conference; there will be no translation of the papers at the conference). Deadline of abstracts of 250 to 300 words is 30 April 2003. Contact is Jueri Talvet at talvet@ut.ee.