Be True to the Earth - Call for papers
The inaugural conference of ASLE-ANZ, to be held at Monash University in April 2005, takes as its theme Friedrich Nietzsche's injunction in Thus Spake Zarathustra to "be true to the earth." The organizers of the conference invite papers that engage with the question of what it might mean to 'be true' to 'the earth' in relation to their own work, whether creative, critical, or reflective, as well as with regard to the particular location(s) of their work, whether in place, time or other (cultural, social, institutional) contexts. In particular, we welcome papers which address this theme in relation to: literatures, philosophies and practices of place, especially in Australia and New Zealand; poetics, politics and practical action; indigenous, intercultural or cross-cultural perspectives; rural, urban or suburban ecologies; non-modern, counter-modern or postmodern perspectives; interspecies ethics, poetics or communication; reinhabitation, dislocation and social justice; ecocriticism and cultural studies; ecocriticism and religious studies; ecocriticism and European critical theory. Conference proceedings will be published in Colloquy .
The trans-Tasman branch of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment was founded in 2004, with the aim of promoting the exchange of ideas and information about literature and other cultural representations that are concerned with human relationships with the natural world in Australia and New Zealand. In addition to encouraging new environmentally oriented, nature-literate, and place-sensitive writing in this region, ASLE-ANZ seeks to foster both traditional and innovative approaches to environmental literature, ecocritical approaches to all cultural representations of nature, and interdisciplinary environmental research, including discussions among literary scholars and environmental historians, philosophers, linguists, psychologists, art historians, architects, scholars of religion, critical theorists, economists and scientists.
Proposals (150 words max.) for twenty minute papers should be sent by February 18th 2005 by email to:
ASLEANZ.Conference@arts.monash.edu.au
OR by post to:
Peter Coleman
Centre for Comparative Literature
and Cultural Studies
School of Languages, Cultures and
Linguistics
Building 11
Monash University
Melbourne
Victoria 3800
Australia