MCLC: Reorienting Cultural Flows--cfp

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Aaron Feng Lan <flan at fsu.edu>
Subject: Reorienting Cultural Flows--cfp
***********************************************************

"Reorienting Cultural Flows: Engagements between France and

East/Southeast Asia"
The Winthrop-King Institute for Contemporary French and Francophone
Studies, Florida State University, 26-28 February 2015

Keynote speakers:
- Michaël Ferrier (author and filmmaker)
- Koichi Iwabuchi (Monash University)
- François Jullien (Université Paris Diderot-Paris 7)
- Jun Xu (University of Nanjing)

Since the Jesuit missionaries first came to China in the
fifteenth-century, there has been ongoing exchange, both splendid and
tumultuous, between France and North/South East Asia that has resulted
in cultural exchanges for both. Reorienting Cultural Flows proposes to
explore this dynamic cultural dialogue with the hope of arriving at a
deeper understanding of a complex web of interchange, which has included
the wielding of French military power and religious zeal to invade and
colonize parts of Asia and more recently an Asian economic and cultural
ascendance that is shaping contemporary France and the world as a whole.
Between France and the nations of Asia there have been at times bloody
disputes and mutual recriminations, and misunderstandings and uneven
relations in cultural exchange often result in academic biases as well.
While there are numerous facets to France’s significance in Asia, its
impact within Asia has often been reduced only to a narrative of power,
overlooking the forms of creative adaptation that have emerged through
these interactions as well as numerous other intellectual contributions.
French-Vietnamese architecture, the singular role that French film
criticism has played in Japan’s cinema history, and more recently the
annual Festival Croisements artistic collaboration in China all speak to
France’s vital presence in Asia. The influence that Asia has had on
cultural production in France is equally profound: from the
transformative impact of Asian representational programs upon artists in
late 19th century France to the so-called Asia waves in French popular
culture and the rich literary output of Asian exiles in the contemporary
period. Reorienting Cultural Flows seeks to redress many of these
historical oversights, while better penetrating the central dynamics as
we move into an age that can no longer be conceived of as having a clear
center. Indeed the notion of an “Asian century” provokes questions about
the legacy of France as a cultural hub, and its future role in a
shifting landscape, as it also foregrounds the search among Asian
nations to define a new place for themselves in a time of flux. If the
world appears perhaps more than ever to be characterized by
multidirectional flows that shape how people and nations construct their
position in the global sphere, these streams that transport fragments of
culture continue to cause both anxiety and celebration. At this critical
juncture it is fruitful to investigate both the historical roots of
these dynamic interchanges and the many ways in which this wealth of
influence enables us to better understand the present moment. To this
end we will consider proposals from a variety of disciplines that
explore the complex literary, artistic, philosophical, culinary,
religious, and other cultural exchanges that have occurred between Asia
and France.

Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:
- French missionaries in Asia
- The Orient and the French Enlightenment
- Asian diasporic and exile literature in France
- The influence of Asian culinary practices on contemporary French cuisine
- Contemporary France-boom in Japanese fashion and food (or French
culinary arts in Asia)
- K-Pop Wave in France
- Paris By Night Vietnamese-language variety show
- Asian painters in Paris
- Reception of French arts in Asia
- Interwar and Postwar modern/contemporary art circles in Japan (eg
surrealism)
- The image of Asians in French cinema
- Early film culture in France and Asia
- Paris Exhibition Universale
- Neo-colonial architecture in Southeast Asia
- “Indochinese Art” and “Indo-European” artists
- Architectural Mimicry, such as Petite France resort in Korea
- The idea of a “quartier chinois” in the contemporary French city
- Manga and otaku culture in France

Deadline for proposals: 1 September 2014
- To propose a paper or a panel please use the following link:
- For further information, please contact the organizers:
- Bill Cloonan (wcloonan at fsu.edu); Aaron Lan (flan at fsu.edu); Laura Lee
(llee2 at fsu.edu); or Martin Munro (mmunro at fsu.edu)

http://winthropking.fsu.edu/Events/Reorienting-Cultural-Flows-France-and-As
ia2