While the twentieth century marked the heyday of literary theory, the twenty first century has witnessed debate on the use and usefulness of theory (especially among Anglo-American academic circles) exploring alternative approaches to criticism through lenses of philosophy, aesthetics, ethics and narration. In the Asian context, the impact of theory lives on, often mediated through cultural studies to foreground more politically nuanced, often localised interdisciplinary approaches to literary interpretation including post colonialism, ethnicity and gender studies. Scholars in the region frequently take advantage of a broad range of perspectives afforded by their access to local history, culture and traditional knowledge, marrying these insights with “western” approaches to produce unique interpretations and hybrid, interdisciplinary methods.
Similar developments can be charted in the area of linguistic studies where linguistics has gone well beyond theoretical descriptions of linguistic systems and the search for purely system-inherent explanations for linguistic phenomena. The focus has shifted to the social, functional, cognitive and cultural dimensions of language use and pedagogy. The focus now is also on the study of various aspects of language use, grounded in communicative behaviour again often taking into account local culture, practices and values. The line between theoretical and applied linguistics has become increasingly blurred, as interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches are actively being developed by researchers and scholars.
In light of such exciting developments, this conference defines the notion of the “spectrum” of perspectives to refer to a broad range of varied but related ideas or practices with respect to the three disciplines of linguistics, literature and culture. In seeking to map the spectrum it hopes to address the following objectives:
Similar developments can be charted in the area of linguistic studies where linguistics has gone well beyond theoretical descriptions of linguistic systems and the search for purely system-inherent explanations for linguistic phenomena. The focus has shifted to the social, functional, cognitive and cultural dimensions of language use and pedagogy. The focus now is also on the study of various aspects of language use, grounded in communicative behaviour again often taking into account local culture, practices and values. The line between theoretical and applied linguistics has become increasingly blurred, as interdisciplinary and trans-disciplinary approaches are actively being developed by researchers and scholars.
In light of such exciting developments, this conference defines the notion of the “spectrum” of perspectives to refer to a broad range of varied but related ideas or practices with respect to the three disciplines of linguistics, literature and culture. In seeking to map the spectrum it hopes to address the following objectives:
- To examine current and emerging perspectives on languages, literatures and cultures that employ a variety of critical lenses.
- To explore the current and emerging trends in both cross-disciplinary and discipline-specific work in the fields of linguistics, literary and cultural studies.
- To investigate the theoretical and pedagogical implications of new ideas, theories, perspectives and practices in the fields of linguistics, literature and culture.
- To enhance cross cultural dialogue and stimulate discussion on and engagement with a variety of perspectives and approaches in linguistic, literary and cultural studies from the various regions of the world.