Asian Conference on Literature 2017

Art Center Kobe, Kobe, Japan

Thursday, March 30 - Sunday, April 2, 2017

Abstract Submission Deadline: January 15, 2017

Registration Deadline for Presenters: February 15, 2017

Conference Theme: “History, Story, Narrative”

Historians are far from the only interested party in writing history. In a sense it is an interest we all share – whether we are talking politics, region, family birthright, or even personal experience. We are both spectators to the process of history while being intimately situated within its impact and formations.

How, then, best to write it? Is it always the victor’s version? Have we not begun increasingly to write “history from below”, that lived by those who are not at the top of the power hierarchy? Are accounts of history always gender-inflected, hitherto at least men rather than women? Who gets to tell history if the issue is colonialism or class? How does geography, the power of place, intersect with history? What is the status of the personal story or narrative within the larger frame of events?

This conference addresses issues of writing history from literary and other discursive perspectives. That is to say: novels, plays, poems, autobiographies, memoirs, diaries, travel logs, and a variety of styles of essay. One thinks of Shakespeare’s history plays, Tolstoy’s War and Peace, Shi Nai’an’s The Water Margin, Balzac’s La Comédie Humaine. It also addresses oral history, the spoken account or witness, Hiroshima survivor to modern Syrian migrant.

Which also connects to the nexus of media and history. The great “historical” films continue to hold us, be it Eisenstein’s October: Ten Days That Shook the World (1925) or Gone with the Wind (1940). We live in an age of documentaries, whether film or TV. There is a view that we also inhabit “instant” history, the download to laptop, the app, the all-purpose mobile. How has this technology changed our perception, our lived experience, of history? What is the role of commemoration, parade, holiday, festival or statuary in the writing of history?

The different modes by which we see and understand history, flow and counter-flow, nevertheless come back to certain basics.

One asks whether we deceive ourselves in always asking for some grand narrative. Can there only be one narrator or is history by necessity a colloquium, contested ground? Is national history a myth? And history-writing itself: is it actually a form of fiction, an artifice which flatters to deceive? What, exactly, is a historical fact?

This conference, we hope, will address these perspectives and others which connect and arise.

The Asian Conference on Literature 2017 (LibrAsia2017) will be held alongside The Asian Conference on the Arts & Humanities 2017 (ACAH2017). Registration for either conference will allow attendees to attend sessions in the other.

Conference Theme and Streams

Conference Theme: ""History, Story, Narrative""

The conference theme for LibrAsia2017 is ""History, Story, Narrative"", and the organisers encourage submissions that approach this theme from a variety of perspectives. However, the submission of other topics for consideration is welcome and we also encourage sessions across a variety of interdisciplinary and theoretical perspectives.

Submissions are organised into the following thematic streams:

Literature - African Literature

Literature - Ancient & Classical Literature

Literature - Anglo-American Literature

Literature - Arabic/Middle Eastern Literature

Literature - Asian Literature

Literature - Children’s and Young Adult Literature

Literature - Comparative Literature

Literature - European Literature

Literature - Folktales, Myths and Legends

Literature - Historical and Political Literature

Literature - Indigenous People’s/Ethnic Literatures & Minority Discourses

Literature - Latin American Literature

Literature - Literary Criticism and Theory

Literature - Literary Practice

Literature - Literary Translation and Translatology

Literature - Literature and Film

Literature - Literature, Language and Identity

Literature - Literature and Religion

Literature - Poetry

Literature - Manuscriptology, Textual and Genetic Criticism

Literature - Memoir and Autobiography

Literature - Teaching Literature

Literature - Travel Writing

Literature - Theatre and Drama

Conference Proceedings

Once you have registered, you can submit your final paper via the online submission system anytime until May 2, 2017.

Final papers are only accepted in a Microsoft Word format. Please download our Final Paper Template and read the Final Paper Submission Guidelines.

The Official Conference Proceedings will be published online in a PDF format under an ISSN issued by the National Diet Library of Japan on June 2, 2017.

Abstract Submission Process

In order to present at the conference, your abstract must first pass a double blind peer review. Upon payment of registration fees, your presentation will be confirmed. Learn more about conference streams.

Deadlines

Abstracts submission: Extended to January 15, 2017

Results of abstract reviews returned to authors: Usually within two weeks of submission

Full conference registration payment for all presenters: February 15, 2017

Full paper submission: May 2, 2017

How to Submit

Register with our online submission system.

Create your account. Your email address will be used as your username and you will be asked to submit a password.

Submit your abstract of no more than 250 words, choosing from the presentation formats listed below (Individual, Poster or Virtual).

Submit well before the submission deadline in order to benefit from Early Bird rates.

Your proposal will normally be reviewed within two to three weeks after undergoing a double blind peer review. Those who submit near the extended deadline will usually receive results by January 29, 2017.

If your proposal is accepted you will be invited to register for the conference. Upon payment of the registration fee, you will be sent a confirmation email receipt.

Status of Submission

The status of your abstract can be checked by logging in to the online submission system. The status will be displayed in the "Your Submissions" area. If your paper is accepted, a notification email will be sent to the registered email address. If you do not receive this email, please contact us at librasia@iafor.org.

You can return to the system at any time using your username and password to edit your personal information. If you wish your paper to be published in the conference proceedings, please ensure that a paper is uploaded through the online system by May 2, 2017.

Ways to Present

Oral Presentation (25 minutes)

This is the standard format for presentation and involves the presenter delivering their research to their audience, often accompanied by a PowerPoint slideshow. Oral Presentations are generally organised by stream into parallel sessions comprising three or four presentations.

Poster Presentation (90 minutes)

A poster presentation provides a relaxed presentation atmosphere in which the presenter uses a poster pinned to a poster board (1800mm high by 900mm wide) to illustrate their research. Presenters will often engage with interested participants on a one-to-one basis, which is great for networking, discussion and relationship building.

Virtual Presentation

Virtual presentations afford authors the opportunity to present their research to IAFOR’s far-reaching and international online audience, without time restrictions, distractions or the need to travel. Presenters are invited to create a video of their presentation which will be uploaded to the official IAFOR Vimeo channel, and will remain online indefinitely. This is a valuable and impactful way of presenting in its own right, but also an alternative means for those delegates who may be unable to travel to the conference due to financial or political restrictions. The same publishing opportunities apply to virtual presenters, with final papers being included in Conference Proceedings.

Following the conference, virtual presenters will be mailed a conference pack, including receipt of payment, certificate of participation and a printed copy of the Conference Programme.

The Vimeo channel will be referenced on all conference materials.

There is no limit to length or style but certain restrictions apply to files size and music selection. Guidelines and further information on creating the video will be sent following registration.

Please note that video presentations are to be created by the author. IAFOR does not permit live video conferencing.

We do not allow presentations by video-conferencing but presenters have the opportunity to submit a video of their presentation, which will be placed on the official Vimeo channel. Information on how to do this will be sent following registration.

Workshop Presentation (60 to 90 minutes)

A workshop is a brief, intensive course, lasting 60 to 90 minutes, which is led by an experienced practitioner, usually with a Ph.D. It facilitates group interaction and the exchange of information amongst a smaller number of participants than is usual at a plenary session.

Often a workshop involves problem solving, skills training, or the dissemination of new content or disciplinary approaches. Conference workshops are typically more instructional and interactive in nature than oral presentations and involve participants working with the workshop leader on a particular topical issue.

Symposium Presentation (90 minutes)

Symposia sessions are conceived and organized by individuals who recruit speakers to present papers or participate in panel discussions organized around a special topic. A symposium is a 90-minute session. A symposium presentation includes:

An introduction

 3 or 4 oral presentations based on submitted abstracts

A discussion

As the organiser of a proposed panel, submit a proposal for the symposium through the online system.

Symposiums presenters can either submit a joint paper or separate papers to the conference proceedings.

We look forward to meeting you in Kobe, Japan!

The Organising Committee..

• Dr A. Robert Lee, Nihon University (retd.), Japan
• Professor Myles Chilton, Nihon University, Japan
• Dr Richard Donovan, Kansai University, Japan
• Dr Brian Daizen Victoria – Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, UK
• Tan Tarn How – National University of Singapore, Singapore
• Dr Joseph Haldane – The International Academic Forum (IAFOR)

For more details visit us at http://iafor.org/conferences/librasia2017/