Fwd: CONFERENCE ON JAPANESE MODERNISM, Otago Univ. New Zealand

[Aaron Gerow]

Begin forwarded message:
>
>
> From: Roy Starrs <roy.starrs at otago.ac.nz>
> Date: Tue, 9 Jun 2009 15:17:01 +1200
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>
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> OTAGO CONFERENCE
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> ON JAPANESE MODERNISM
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>
>
> AUGUST 14-16, 2009
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> Otago University, New Zealand
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>
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> 1. CALL FOR PAPERS
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>
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> Paper proposals are invited for a conference on Japanese modernism to
> be held at the University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand, on August
> 14-16, 2009.
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>
>
> The flowering of Japanese modernism in the 1920s and early ‘30s, in
> all fields of the arts as well as in popular culture and everyday
> life, had profound and lasting effects on Japanese culture, society,
> and thought that still leave much for scholars of Japan to ponder.
> By adopting an open, multidisciplinary approach to the topic, this
> conference will aim to shed new light both on the specific
> achievements and also on the unexpected interrelationships of the
> artists and thinkers involved in this rich and complex episode of
> modern Japanese cultural history.
>
>
>
> Given the multifaceted nature of Japanese (and other) modernisms,
> this is a topic that lends itself ideally to cross-disciplinary or
> multidisciplinary as well as transnational approaches.   Thus papers
> are welcome to consider the conference topic from any disciplinary or
> theoretical perspective.
>
>
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> While the central focus of the conference will be on Taishō and early
> Shōwa modernism as an aesthetic or cultural movement, papers are also
> welcome which address such diverse but related topics as: Meiji
> modernity as a precursor to Taishō modernism, “overcoming
> modernity” and other anti-modernist tendencies, the politicized
> “alternative modernities” of the left and right, modernism and the
> Japanese colonial empire, the postwar revival of Japanese modernism,
> and the latter-day phenomenon of postmodernism in Japan (especially
> as considered in its relationship to modernism).
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>
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> General theoretical and historical questions to be addressed—in both
> a Japanese and a comparative international context—might include:
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> What is modernism?
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> What is the relation of modernism to modernity?
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> Was modernism a national or an international phenomenon?
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> What historical circumstances gave rise to modernism?
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> Is there a particular modernist worldview or a particular modernist
> aesthetic?
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> What were the major achievements of modernism, and what were its long-
> term influences?
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> What is the relation between modernism and postmodernism?
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> Specific topics to be explored in relation to modernism might include:
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> New movements in visual art, music, literature, theater, and film:
> Japanese Dada, surrealism, Expressionism, MAVO, shinkankakuha,
> puroretaria bungaku, etc.
>
> The new popular culture: Jazz, Hollywood movies, dance halls, coffee
> shops, fashion, cuisine, modernist physical and material culture,
> moga and mobo, etc.
>
> Psychology and psychiatry: the modernist self, subjectivity,
> identity.  Freudian and neo-Freudian influences.
>
> Political power and political ideology: modernism and fascism,
> Marxism, and liberal democracy.
>
> Philosophy and religion:  new religions, the “modernist
> worldview,” the Kyoto School and modernism.
>
> The promised revolution in gender relations: the moga and all she
> represented.  Modernism and issues of sexuality and sexual identity.
>
> Changing boundaries of class or social stratification: “high”
> and “low” modernisms.
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> Nationalism and globalization: modernism, cultural nationalism, and
> cosmopolitanism.
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> Modernism and imperialism: the colony as modernist project; post-
> colonial postmodernisms.
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> Cross-cultural influences, confluences, or fertilizations:
> intercultural relations between Japan and the West, Japan and Asia,
> Japan and its colonies.
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> The transformation of cultural geography: the new city space versus
> the countryside, the Metropolis versus the periphery.
>
> (This list of suggested topics, of course, is by no means exhaustive.)
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> A refereed volume of selected conference papers will be published by
> a major international publisher.
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> Those who are not able to attend the conference in person are welcome
> to submit papers for circulation or reading in absentia.  These
> papers will also be considered for the final publication.
>
>
>
> Please send abstracts of paper proposals by June 30, 2009 to:
> roy.starrs at otago.ac.nz
>
> Conference website: www.otago.ac.nz/japanese/news/index.html
>
>
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> 2.  A NOTE ABOUT ACCOMMODATION
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>
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> The most convenient place to stay is the university's Executive
> Residence (better book early). Contact details:
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>
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> Tel 64 3 479 9151
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> Fax 64 3 479 9180
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> Email execres at business.otago.ac.nz
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> Website: http://www.otago.ac.nz/execres
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>
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> There are also many hotels and motels close to the campus, such as
> Cargill's, Alexis, Alhambra Oaks, etc., which all may be found on the
> web.
>
>
> Prof. Roy Starrs
> Coordinator, Japanese and Asian Studies
> Department of Languages and Cultures
> University of Otago
> P.O. Box 56
> Dunedin 9054
> New Zealand
>
> TEL: (643) 479-9030
> FAX: (643) 467-5292
> WEB: www.otago.ac.nz/japanese
> Email: roy.starrs at otago.ac.nz