2005 Comparative Literature Colloquium

THE POSSIBILITIES OF THE COMPARATIVE

We invite you to explore the following questions with us at the Memorial
Union on October 8:

What makes the comparative possible? What does the comparative make
possible?

Colloquium Schedule:

10:00 a.m.- Introduction of Colloquium by organizers and associate dean

10:15 a.m. -Panel 1: Text & Music/Text & Image: from the public to the personal?
Benjamin Moritz :"Nietzsche's use of Music as a Literary Device"&
Monica Garoiu: "Photography and Literature in Roland Barthes' 'Camera Lucida'

12:00 p.m.-Lunch

1:15 p.m. -Panel 2: Comparative Spaces/The Space of the Comparative
Nathan Hoks: "A Comparative Genre: Christian Dotremont's 'Logogrammes' and the Comparative Approach to Intermedia Art" &
Valerie Reed: "Suitably Positioned: Thinking the "In-Between" Space of the Comparative"

3:00 p.m.- Roundtable: What does the comparative make possible? / What makes the comparative possible?

Colloquium Prospectus:
This colloquium raises two questions: what does the comparative make possible? and what makes the comparative possible? Reflecting on current trends in comparative fields, one might observe how interdisciplinary comparative work has become, treating comparisons between literature and history, literature and film, literature and art, and so forth. On one hand, one could see such a movement as a venture beyond the grouping or territorialization built into the academic system, which may lead one to ask, what grounds comparisons that cross disciplinary lines? On the other hand, one might ask whether such interdisciplinary work goes far enough in addressing the question, what does the comparative make possible? With this in mind, one might also note a recurring preoccupation with the question of comparative methodology; such questioning often results in a new grouping of categories or the re-drawing of territorial lines of what is legitimately "comparable" (for example, works of the same linguistic family, genre, time period, etc.). As we see this "quarantine-effect" inflecting the structure of the academy itself, how does the shifting presence of "academic communities" reinforce - or undermine - the tendency toward territorialization? What communities exist in academia that make the comparative possible - or, conversely, which the comparative makes possible?

If you have further questions please use the contact information
available on the attached poster.