Writing Nature
An Interdisciplinary Graduate Student Conference
The Department of French and Francophone Studies
University of California, Los Angeles
October 18-19, 2018
The first edition of the Dictionnaire de l’Académie Francaise, written in 1694, lists fifteen definitions for the word “Nature.” The first and broadest, reads simply, “Tout l’Univers, toutes les choses créées.” Other definitions present the idea of a universal spirit that is born in all things, the intrinsic qualities of a being, man’s temperament, the natural state of man—as opposed to Grace or Art, or even simply the idea of specie.
Certainly, across French and Francophone history, artists, thinkers and intellectuals have engaged with Nature in all its various forms. Authors from Marie de France to Derrida have also interrogated the nature of literature and cultural production. What is the nature of narrative? Of poetry? Of prose? Of authorship? What is the nature of literary analysis? Of critique? Of cultural analysis?
Possible conference topics may include but are not limited to:
- Human nature
- The natural world
- Animal studies
- Eco studies (ecocriticism, ecopolitics, ecology, etc.)
- Control of nature – either the natural environment or human nature
- (Post)colonialism and shaping of both natural world and human nature
- Nature and gender
- Nature, custom, and culture
- Alienation from nature
- The nature of literature/French studies/other disciplines
Please send an abstract of 300 words or fewer, in English or French, along with your paper title, affiliation and contact information to uclafrenchgradconf2018@gmail.com. Presentations should be no more than 20 minutes in length.
Our Deadline for Submission is July 6, 2018