In Memoriam:

A Discussion on Remembering, Forgetting, Imagining, and Understanding

Friday, November 2, 2012
4:45-8:45 p.m.
Keynote Speaker: Alan Richardson
Respondent: Alison Cotti-Lowell

What is the power of memory? How do we access the past and make meaning out of it? Why are we compelled to do so? As we begin to think about these questions, we might reflect on Proust, who recaptures a past experience through the taste of a madeleine and whose search for lost time arguably speaks to a universal human need.

How do individuals, as well as communities, address their histories, and to what ends? Is remembering a mere recapturing of the past, or is it bound up with forgetting and imagining? To what extent is the process of remembering a construction of things anew?

Beyond their thematic relevance, we can also consider the topics of history and memory as related to our practices of reading, and more generally, to our conception of literary discourse.

Call for Papers

We encourage submission of 5–7 page papers for a 12–15 minute presentation. Possible paper topics include but are not limited to:

• Representations of historical events in literature
• Practices of memorializing
• Objects and loss
• Forgotten voices
• Cultural memory
• Trauma studies
• Cognitive Theory
• Poetics
• Aesthetics
• Autobiography and memoir
• Evolution of literary methodology and practices

Full papers must be submitted by Monday, March 26, 2012 for consideration in the Colloquium program. Please e-mail all questions and submissions to colloq@bc.edu.

Get Involved

We need help! Help us design flyers, market the event, or read submissions. Don't have time? Help us with set-up or tear-down on the day of the event. Contact colloq@bc.edu.

Don't forget to submit your paper by Monday, October 15, 2012. Email all submissions to colloq@bc.edu.