Literature, Environment and the Common Good: Food, Habitat, Climate Date:​
9­10 December 2015 Place: «Sapienza» University of Rome, Faculty of Literature and Philosophy, Department of European, American and Intercultural Studies, Villa Mirafiori ­ Via Carlo Fea 2, 00161 Rome, Italy The conference will cross literary studies and ecological approaches to the theme of the common good, in the present context of environmental crisis. The general perspective is both aesthetic and ethical, since literary texts will be approached as part of a wide­ranging pursuit of the common good. We would like to point out the relevance of literature to environmental issues as well as to the evolution of the human species; drawing our attention to our responsibilities in a world where nature, politics, technology and society have to achieve a coherent and balanced coexistence. Although it focuses on literature and literary texts as the heart of its inquiry, the conference will encourage comparisons between literature and other fields and media (arts, sciences, philosophy, anthropology etc.) so as to better put into relief their assessments of our ecological footprint. On the one hand, our impact on the climate and on our immediate and distant environments is largely the result of our feeding behaviours and dwelling habits. These, in turn, as ecocritical studies have pointed out, may be represented and problematized in literature in connection with changes in the global climate and natural disasters. In this respect, interdisciplinary approaches can help us to rethink a set of paradigms which are usually associated with sustainable development and ecological thinking (crisis, catastrophes, disasters and plunder) while putting into perspective the concepts of nature and culture, which tend to vary greatly both from a historical and a geographical point of view. On the other hand, the environment can mean a physical space that surrounds human beings (inhabited or not, built­up or existing as a natural space), but also, in a more literary perspective, it can indicate a psychological or cognitive space in which literature, seen as a form of nourishment, has an immaterial but fundamental role to play (Bateson). In connection with these two dimensions, and echoing the issues raised by such global events as the Milan Universal Exposition “EXPO 2015: Feeding the Planet. Energy for Life” or the Paris United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 21) or by the upcoming “green” papal encyclical (which is to be released in the Summer of 2015), the conference invites consideration of the three following notions/fields of study within world literature from the Age of Antiquity to the present : 1. habitats and dwelling habits 2. feeding and nutrition 3. the climate These three main themes can in turn branch out into related and more specific ones, on which presentations may also focus: ­ places, spaces, ​
oikos​
, the hearth, the home/house ­ gardens, landscapes, frontiers, outside and inside, intimacies, strangeness/familiarity, peripheries, waste lands, territories, proximity and distance ­ domination/plunder/conservation, care or custody (from the Latin ​
cura and ​
custodia​
), usufruct/property ­ social practices and responsibilities, civil society and civil commitment ­ adaptation, acclimatization, contamination, pollution, the environment, consumption, energy, waste Presentations, whether dealing with literature synchronically or diachronically, should aim at a precise contextualization of the texts and combine literary interpretation with a theoretical elaboration linked to the issue of the common good. Practical information: Meals: Meals (lunches and coffee breaks) will be offered by the conference organizers. Languages: The languages for presentations at the conference will be Italian, French or English. How to send proposals: Presentations should be in Italian, French or English and should not exceed 25 minutes. Abstracts must not exceed 500 words and must be submitted in English, French, or Italian, along with a short biography, to ecocriticaroma2015@gmail.com by April 30, 2015. A publication of the conference proceedings is considered, in the form of an edited book or of collections of articles in thematic journals. For further information, please contact: ecocriticaroma2015@gmail.com Institutions: «Sapienza» Università di Roma Institut Français Italia (IFI) École normale supérieure (ENS) de Lyon Organizing committee: Massimo Blanco, «Sapienza» Università di Roma Lucie Lagardère, Institut Français Italia / «Sapienza» Università di Roma Caterina Salabè, Independent Scholar François Specq, École Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Lyon Scientific Board: Blanco Massimo, Università degli Studi di Roma 1 La Sapienza Colombo Rosa Maria, Università degli Studi di Roma 1 La Sapienza Guastini Daniele, Università degli Studi di Roma 1 La Sapienza Hamdan Dima, Lebanese University Hermetet Anne­Rachel, Université d’Angers Lagardère Lucie, Institut français Italia / Università degli Studi di Roma 1 La Sapienza Lévy Clément, Institut français Italia / Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro Mariani Giorgio, Università degli Studi di Roma 1 La Sapienza Massara Giuseppe, Università degli Studi di Roma 1 La Sapienza Salabè Caterina, Independent Scholar Specq François, École Normale Supérieure (ENS) de Lyon Van Damme Stéphane, European University Institute