Texts live only by being read, yet in being read, they are also transformed. Texts may be read closely or distantly, critically or uncritically, deeply or hyperly, fast or slowly; for pleasure, profit, or piety; on the beach, in the library, or in the university classroom. Texts can have long afterlives, travelling far in time and space on circuits of communication and exchange. They can be given new life in new contexts of reception, interpretation, translation, or adaptation.
This conference examines the ways in which texts (both literary and otherwise) are produced, exchanged, and received. We encourage papers with a focus on engaged studies and discussions of teaching practice and of critical/exegetical responses to creative practice. Papers that respond to reception, production, and exchange in the fields of languages and translation studies; the literary study of languages other than English; and philosophical approaches to cultural expression, are expressly welcome. We also expressly welcome interdisciplinary angles on the theme, such as Cultural Studies, Indigenous Studies, Postcolonial Studies, ethnography, sociology of reading, History of the Book, studies in orality or performance, and comparative approaches.