Hacettepe University, Department of American Culture and Literature
35th Anniversary Conference: Manifestations of Love and Hate in American Culture and Literature
November 1–3, 2017
Department of American Culture and Literature
Ankara, Turkey
“It is a curious subject of observation and inquiry, whether hatred and love be not the same thing at bottom. Each, in its utmost development, supposes a high degree of intimacy and heart-knowledge; each renders one individual dependent for the food of his affections and spiritual life upon another; each leaves the passionate lover, or the no less passionate hater, forlorn and desolate by the withdrawal of his object. Philosophically considered, therefore, the two passions seem essentially the same, except that one happens to be seen in a celestial radiance and the other in a dusky and lurid glow.”
— Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter
Two of the most perennial topics in art and literature throughout human history, love and hate, in their multifarious forms and contexts, have always appealed to a large number of readers and audiences. Not only inspiring thousands of works of art and literature, but also giving birth to genres and sub-genres, love and hate have been essential elements of all popular cultural forms, including music and cinema. American literature and culture are no exception in terms of its keen interest in this binary. Some cultural critics have even pointed out the uniquely American way of dealing with matters of the heart. For instance, both Henry Adams in the well-known “The Dynamo and the Virgin” chapter of The Education of Henry Adams, and Leslie Fiedler in Love and Death in the American Novel, have pondered, with a critical tone, why American society has always been uneasy with the topic of love. Whether it is an uneasiness, as Adams and Fiedler claim, or another distinctive characteristic that distinguishes love in the United States, this conference hopes to stimulate discussion about representations of love, and its antitheses, in the American context.
We invite the submission of individual abstracts, panels, and proposals by graduate students from any branch of American Studies. Possible areas may include, but are not limited to:
* Literature/literary criticism
* Gender and queer studies
* Cinema, (social) media, communication
* Music, art, theater, and performance
* Cultural studies
* Life writing (travel writing, journals, diaries, and memoirs)
* History of emotions
* Sociology
* Psychology and psychoanalysis
* Visual culture
* Environmental studies/urban studies
Proposals should be sent to the American Studies Association of Turkey (info@asat-jast.org) and should consist of a 250–300 word abstract, three to five keywords, as well as a short (one paragraph) biography for each participant. The time allowance for presentations is 20 minutes. An additional 10 minutes will be provided for discussion.
While the conference language is English, we will accept a limited number of abstracts in Turkish for a Turkish-language panel at the end of the conference.
Deadline for proposal submission: March 3, 2017
All presenters residing in Turkey must be/become ASAT members. Selected papers will be included in a special issue of the Journal of American Studies of Turkey (JAST) based on the conference theme.
More information will be posted on our website as it becomes available: www.asat-jast.org