FACS Literary Journal
Florida Atlantic University

CALL FOR PAPERS
Remaking reality: Eroding the Palimpsest

In the context of modern poetics, Charles Baudelaire seizes upon the complexity of palimpsest as critical paradigm not simply for the human brain as physical structure, but also for the referential status of poetry itself: “What is the human brain, if not an immense and natural palimpsest?” he asks. “My brain is a palimpsest, and yours too, reader. Innumerable layers of ideas, images, and sentiments fall upon your brain, as softly as light. It seems that each [new layer] buries the previous one. But no layer has perished.” Paradis artificiels [Artificial Paradises]

Baudelaire draws the metaphor of palimpsest from specific material conditions present in the ancient and medieval worlds in which valuable parchments were often scraped down to enable new text to be written over the old. This overlaying technique of palimpsest masked the original texts but never truly effaced them, and modern technology is now capable of exposing these earlier layers of text. Similarly, contemporary theory, academic discourses, and new media forms find themselves imposing modern directions over earlier ones, overwriting the “original.” Past models appear effaced while simultaneously serving as the foundation for innovative thought.

The editors of the interdisciplinary journal Florida Atlantic Comparative Studies invite submissions on any aspect of this topic for its Volume #10. The deadline is March 1, 2007. FACS is an interdisciplinary journal providing a forum for comparative study in the arts, humanities, language, culture and social sciences. Submissions in English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish are welcome. Graphic submissions are also welcome.

Possible topics on the exploration of notions of palimpsest include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Electronic communication
• Memory and disease
• Ecology
• Identity (gender, race, religion, class)
• History
• Revisiting genres
• Media art
• Critical theory
• Displacing colonial agency
• Transglobal economy
• Translation studies

Papers should be no more than 25 pages or approximately 7,000 words, and should follow the most recent MLA guidelines. A separate title page should include the author’s name and address. The author’s name should not appear on the manuscript pages to allow for blind review.

Send two hard copies and a CD of the manuscript to:
FACS Editor
Department of Languages and Linguistics
Florida Atlantic University
777 Glades Road
P.O. Box 3091
Boca Raton, FL 33341-0991

E-mail submissions should be sent to facs_at_fau.edu. All electronic versions should be submitted in Microsoft Word.