Spaces of Comparison Conference

The focus of the twenty-first annual conference of the Association for Welsh Writing in English at Gregynog Hall in Powys, Wales, UK from March 27 – 29th, 2009 will be ‘Spaces of Comparison: Welsh Writing in English in Comparative Contexts’. In recent years ‘postnationalism’, ‘transnationalism’ and the ‘transatlantic’ have become influential paradigms in a variety of academic fields. This conference aims to explore the applicability of these concepts to Welsh writing in English. Is it time that we moved beyond the ideological and political requirements of the nation state? Or does ‘Wales’ remain a politically fragile entity that needs to be continually reimagined and reinforced by literary texts? What other peoples, nations and literatures may shed light on the histories and literatures of the Welsh people? Panel papers of a broadly theoretical nature are welcome, as well as papers that compare the literatures of Wales, that place Welsh writing within European and Transatlantic contexts, and that relate comparative approaches to colonial, postcolonial and global contexts.

Keynote Speakers:
Our three keynote speakers are pre-eminent figures in the field of comparative cultural studies. Peter Lord's work will address Wales directly, while Professors Susan Manning (Edinburgh) and Marc Shell (Harvard) are leading figures in the fields of transatlantic and comparative literatures respectively.

CALL FOR PAPERS
Papers are invited on any aspect of the theme ‘Spaces of Comparison: Welsh Writing in English in Comparative Contexts.’ Both short papers (c. 20 minutes) or longer ones (c. 50 minutes) will be considered; a brief abstract should be submitted to the organizer for consideration by the deadline of January 14th, 2009. Organizer: Dr. Daniel Williams, CREW, Department of English, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP. daniel.g.williams@swansea.ac.uk
Possible topics may include (but are not limited to):

- Celtic comparisons: Ireland, Scotland, Brittany.
- Welsh Writing in English in relation to English literature in England
- Welsh writing in English and Breton writing in French and other cases of a ‘minority’ literature in a ‘majority’ language.
- Wales and India – from William Jones through Alun Lewis to Desmond Barry
- Wales and the United States.
- Ethnic Modernisms in Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Harlem, Scandinavia etc.
- Comparative approaches to Gender, Ethnicity or Nationalism
- The making of Black Welsh, or Afro-Welsh, identities.
- The concept of diaspora.
- Marxisms / Nationalisms / Feminisms / Religious Traditions.
- Translation.
- Comparisons across genres: literature in relation to music, art, architecture.
- Theoretical papers exploring the validity of comparative and transatlantic models in relation to minority literary studies.

Organizers:
CREW (Centre for Research into the English Literature and Language of Wales) , Swansea University
Dr. Daniel Williams, CREW, Department of English, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP. daniel.g.williams@swansea.ac.uk
Sarah Morse, c/o Dr. Daniel Williams, CREW, Department of English, Swansea University, Singleton Park, Swansea SA2 8PP. sarahmorse@gmail.com