Keynote speakers:
Prof. Theo D'Haen (KU Leuven,Belgium)
Prof. David Damrosch (Columbia University, USA)

Paper proposals (title + a 200-250 words abstract in English, French or Romanian) will be submitted by email to one of the following addresses by the 15th April 2008: oana_fotache@yahoo.com, alexandra_vranceanu@yahoo.com, magda_raduta@yahoo.com (preferably as a word document attachment). Please include also a short biographical note with your: name, institutional affiliation, email, research interests, relevant publications.

The themes we suggest for discussion originated in questions such as: which are the instances that define the concept of `national literature` in the 21st century? How does the notion of globalization influence literary studies? Can we talk of a `national literature` otherwise than in relation to a `global literature`?

The conference is structured in 3 sections: the first one, mainly theoretical, is meant to analyze the construction and functioning of several concepts widely employed in the recent discourse of comparative studies (European literature, globalization, canon and cultural identity); the second one is focused on the image of Romanian literature in contemporary Western culture and on the former’s strategies of (re)defining its identity and promoting it on the European/ global market of cultural goods; the third section – organized under the form of a workshop – is oriented towards the educational system as a shaping factor and a vehicle of the literary canon.

Scientific Committee: Liviu Papadima (University of Bucharest)
Mircea Anghelescu (University of Bucharest)
Mircea Martin (University of Bucharest)
Bruno Mazzoni (Universitŕ degli Studi di Pisa)
Călin-Andrei Mihăilescu (University of Western Ontario, Canada)
Monica Spiridon (University of Bucharest)