FW: Call for Papers

[Gardner, William]

Kinejapaners might be interested in this conference. . .
Best, WG

forwarded from Christopher Bolton, UC Riverside:

Colleagues:

I am forwarding a call for papers for a conference on East/West 
speculative and science fiction to be held at the Chinese University 
of Hong Kong in January 2001.  The conference is jointly organized by 
my own institution, the University of California, Riverside.

The organizers are very interested in receiving proposals from Japan 
specialists dealing not only with prose science fiction, speculative 
fiction, and fantasy, but also manga, anime, and film.

Questions can be directed to the organizers at the addresses below, or to
me.

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CALL FOR PAPERS: "Hong Kong 2001: Technology, Identity and Futurity, 
East and West, in the Emerging Global Village." Hosted by the Chinese 
University of Hong Kong in conjunction with the University of 
California, Riverside, to be held January 4-6, 2001. Confirmed guests 
include Gregory Benford, Scott Bukatman, Istvan Csiscery-Ronay, Jr., 
Jack Dann, N. Katherine Hayles, David Pringle, Takayuki Tatsumi, and 
Janeen Webb. This conference will explore the increasing convergence 
of East and West in speculative and science fiction literature and 
film.  Although the Western and Eastern worlds were once divided by 
geography, ignorance, and xenophobia, as revealed in speculative 
fiction and elsewhere, modern science and technology are now creating 
a globalized world, breaking down the boundaries between East and 
West and altering traditional cultures and values. One can observe 
these developments in the architecture, institutions, and social 
patterns of a city like Hong Kong, which maintains a commitment to 
its cultural identity while integrating foreign influences and which 
intriguingly mirrors science-fictional images of future cities. A 
juxtaposition or blending of disparate values is also visible in the 
high-tech underworlds of cyberpunk fiction and the growing number of 
science fiction novels and films produced by Asian countries like 
Japan and China. This conference is open to proposals from all 
relevant disciplines that deal with the past and present interactions 
of technology, tradition, globalization, and identity along the 
East-West axis, primarily focusing on literature and film. The 
conference coordinators are Wong Kin Yuen (kinyuenwong at cuhk.edu.hk), 
George Slusser (george.slusser at ucr.edu), and Gary Westfahl 
(Gwwestfahl at aol.com); inquiries and proposals should be sent to Gary 
Westfahl no later than September 30, 2000 via e-mail or to this 
address: Gary Westfahl, The Learning Center 052, University of 
California, Riverside, CA 92521, USA.  Acceptance letters in response 
to strong proposals can be provided early to aid prospective speakers 
in seeking outside financial support.

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CHRISTOPHER BOLTON * University of California, Riverside * Comp. Lit. 
& Foreign Languages * http://faculty.ucr.edu/~bolton