This year the Dept. of English and American Studies at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia organizes the fourth week-long project designed for the students of the Faculty of Arts. Each year, there is a different thematic focus which is explored through a series of lectures presented by academics, workshops, film screenings, discussions and competitions in order to activate the students and hear their opinio...n on the topic. This year’s thematic focus is FEAR.
Inspired by the title of Julian Barnes´ book which may be read as a contemporary meditation on one of the most fearful topics – death, we would like to explore how fear shapes our everyday experience, and how is this phenomena investigated in literature and visual art. We invite textual, interpretative and comparative studies on literature, film, visual art and cultural studies that explore the phenomena described below. Contributions are invited on both individual writers/artists/fictional texts/movies and broader or cross-section topics.
Representations of rational and irrational fear in Arts and Literature:
- Fear, traumas and angst of the unknown, “the Other”
- Facing phobias (death, birds, spiders, darkness, claustrophobia…)
- Parapsychological and supernatural phenomena
- Monsters, ghosts, goblins, creatures, the living dead, spirit possession
- Religious fear and prophetic visions, mysticism
- Cultural hatred and xenophobia
- Fear and music, fear in/of music
- Fear and theatre, fear in/of theatre
- Modern forms of fear and traumas
o Soulless world of virtual reality
o Life in the terror-haunted world
o Loss of humanity
o Transhumanism and posthumanism
Exploring fearsome narratives:
- Horror, Thriller, Gothic novel, Adventure story, War novels
- Fear in modern children´s and young adult literature
- Fear in cross-over literature
- Popular culture narratives
- Movie and theatre adaptations of literary works
- Visual, auditory and literary expressive means evoking fear
The speakers will present their papers to the students of the Department of English and American Studies at CPU Nitra, Slovakia during a week-long project that combines academic lectures, film screenings, discussion and competitions. Papers should range in length from 45 up to 90 minutes (up to 12 pages in the written form including endnotes and works cited) and be presented in the English language. Please submit a 300-word abstract of your presentation to the email addresses listed below together with your institutional affiliation and current email address. Selected papers will also be included in the next issue of the academic journal Ars Aeterna (Ars Aeterna 5) published by the Department of English and American Studies at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra in Spring 2011.
Films to be screened during the week:
