25th Anniversary Conference on West Indian Literature
2– 4, March, 2006

Call For Papers

THEME: WHERE IS HERE: REMAPPING THE CARIBBEAN

Modern Caribbean civilization is rooted in the dynamics of imperialistic expansion and enforced migrations. This history, marked by the decimation of indigenous peoples, the ingathering of diverse ethnic groups, the legacy of capitalist reification of island and person under plantation slavery and indentureship, ironically occasioned the disruption of old Manichean paradigms of race, ethnicity and nationality. The subsequent emergence of secondary diasporas in Europe, North America and elsewhere highlight the evolving transnational and transcultural construction of Caribbean identity. These features have positioned the region to become the primary signifier of a global future destined towards greater cosmopolitanism and multiple belongings. Indeed, conventional definitions of home and belonging, here and there, boundaries and fixed borders have been radically challenged in a world influenced by the forces of globalisation.

For twenty-five years, the West Indian Literature Conference has gathered a range of scholars and writers to discuss the region’s literary and cultural expressions. Our original focus on Anglophone literature has expanded to include the wider Caribbean and its diasporas, as well as other forms of cultural expression like music, film, and digital technology. This broadening signals the development of urgent debates - on the significance of terms like Caribbean versus West Indian, on what defines a Caribbean or national text or a Caribbean writer, on what constitutes the canon or marks the parameters of literary criticism and theory, on who is the Caribbean subject and indeed, where is the Caribbean. Such persistent questions signal the demand for on-going review of the criteria and categories by which the region’s literatures and cultures are understood and theorized.

The 25th Annual Conference on West Indian Literature focuses on the theme “Where is Here: Remapping the Caribbean.” It invites papers on the following topics:

• Caribbean gateways to future worlds
• Post nationalism and national literatures
• Bridges of memory
• Diasporan e/scapes
• The visual and virtual Caribbean
• Limbo, liminality and the migrating subject
• Caribbean performativity and traveling sounds
• Spirit journeys and psychic territories
• Translating the folk
• Sexual citizenship
• Re-charting the canon

Deadlines:
September 30, 2005 Submission of abstracts
October 31, 2005 Notification of acceptance
January 30, 2005 Submission of full papers

Abstract and Presentation Formats:
Submit an abstract of not more than 250 words and a brief biography that should include the presenter’s name, institution, e-mail and postal address. Where there are co-presenters, submit a vita for each presenter. Papers should conform to the allotted 20 minutes using any medium. Please indicate any technological requirements.

Send submissions to: Professor Barbara Lalla (blalla@fhe.uwi.tt) or Dr. Jennifer Rahim (jrahim@fhe.uwi.tt), or mail to 25th West Indian Conference, c/o The Department of Liberal Arts, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad.