Art as Artifice, Fiction as Feigning: Deception in Literature

Berkeley-Stanford Conference: April 25th, 2009

Submissions by MARCH 30th

The ambivalence that literary and visual arts, as media designed to deceive, provoke goes back to shared etymological roots between “fiction” and “feign.” Yet artistic deception has long been seen as one of life’s greatest pleasures, and we often praise works of art precisely for the way in which they make something out of nothing, make the unreal seem real (or vice versa). This conference welcomes papers which examine the deception inherent in literary and artistic endeavors. Aspects to consider might include the function of unreliable narrators or framed narratives; the effect of perspective (narrative or otherwise) in artistic works; the inherent unreality of theater and varied responses to it; the relationship between artistic feigning and the feigning of social roles; the way in which certain works draw attention to, or minimize, their status as created artifacts; the historical or material significance of works of art; the relationship between visual and literary arts; the art of nonfiction and biographical writing; artistic representations of historical fact; the role of myth-making and the incorporation of cultural heritage into art; art as a performance or challenge to a particular role; representations of magic in art and how artistic creation can itself be figured as magical; the role of the unreal or the uncanny in literature; art’s relation to religious creation and representations of religion in art; the function of genre in signifying artistic or literary status; the signification of the word “author” and its use over time; and whether criticism itself somehow participates in its own culture of artifice or deception.

This year, we invite proposals not only for the standard-format “conference” paper (8-10 pages, 20 minutes), but for papers intended for workshop and panels for roundtable discussions. Workshop papers may be longer pieces of work related to your field of specialty (such as part of a dissertation chapter, a paper being developed for a later conference, or a piece being prepared for submission for publication) to be circulated in advance and discussed at the conference. Panels for roundtables may propose a topic that is relevant to the discipline as a whole, such as “periodization”, which would be discussed in small groups moderated by faculty. (Panel conclusions could perhaps be recorded and delivered to a larger group, or developed into a short statement for later circulation.) The number, or existence, of workshops and roundtables will depend on interest. Please indicate with your submission whether it is for a conference paper, a workshop, or a roundtable.