Reflecting/Reflected Modernity: Sites of Interface between the Occidental and the Oriental
Call for Papers

‘Modernity’ tends to be used, within the humanities, to refer to something seemingly exclusively Western. Within the canonical histories of modernity, especially in literature studies and the discipline of history of art, ‘Western’ countries are seen as the instigators of what we now see as artistic and cultural modernism. ‘Modernity’, however, was not created in isolation within Western spheres. It came into existence through an intercultural exchange and reciprocal relationship between ‘East’ and ‘West’.

Reflecting/Reflected Modernity: Sites of Interface between the Occidental and the Oriental aims to tie together a set of themes and gathers papers focusing on conceptual transformations and cultural representations during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as part of the surge of modernity associated with occidental power and technological and industrial development. It aims to focus on Asia with Euro-America providing a much-needed perspective from an oriental power equally engaged in this surge of modernity. We invite abstracts on any topic including the following themes:


●intellectual dialogue and cultural exchange of foreign ideas and ideas of foreign-ness between Anglo-European Culture and Asia.
●occidental/oriental perspectives on ‘modernity’
●mutual relations between Western and Asian art, literature, music, and philosophy
●reconsideration of artistic, cultural and geographical constructions of ‘East’ and ‘West’
●theoretical ideas about adaptation and translation across cultures
●Eastern and Western religion, including mysticism and occultism
●historical perspectives on exhibitions and museums
●comparative artistic movements in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
●transcultural identities and nationalities

We welcome proposals from MA, PhD students and ECRs. Please send an abstract (200 words) along with a brief bio (100 words) to Kazuki Inoue (ki567@york.ac.uk) by 7 of February 2020. We are open to receiving standard and non-traditional presentation/paper formats. Papers are expected to be 20 minutes long. The forum is planned for 20 March, 2020, and will take place in the Humanities Research Centre, University of York.
If you are interested or have questions, please don’t hesitate to contact Kazuki at the above address.