Relational Forms IX

Sustainable Objects?: Books, Screens and Creative Transit
in the Cultures of the English Language

an international conference hosted by the
Faculty of Arts and Humanities, University of Porto, Portugal
and organised by CETAPS
 

This conference focuses on the endurance of cultural items (works of literature, themes, symbols and motifs, myths, historical figures, etc.) through a range of transformations, with an emphasis on the technologies that enable and sustain various exchanges and relays: from manuscript to print, from codex to digital and audiobook, the mutualities of words and images, the dynamics proper to adaptation, translation, and transmediation.

As indicated by the number in its title, this is the ninth in a series of academic events that reflect the ongoing concerns of the eponymous research group (Relational Forms), based at CETAPS (the Centre for English, Translation and Anglo-Portuguese Studies). The group’s rationale and remit entail that our conferences centrally address the cultures of Ireland and Britain – but we warmly welcome contributions bearing on other literary and artistic cultures.

Every year, the Relational Forms conference takes its cue from a memorable event or development. This year, our commemorative prompter is the 550th anniversary of the first printed book in English – the History of Troy, a translation from the French published by William Caxton in Bruges in 1474. Rather than a main object of our conference, this landmark in the history of print culture is invoked to inspire reflections on the manifold transits (across media, languages, national borders, and historical periods) that texts undergo, and on which their survival as living and meaningful items of culture depend.

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 11 June 2024

For more information, click here.