KATHERINE MANSFIELD AND CONTINENTAL EUROPE

An International Conference hosted by the Faculty of Arts and Letters,

Catholic University in Ružomberok, Slovakia

in association with the Katherine Mansfield Society

27-29 June 2012

Keynote Speakers:

Angela Smith, C. K. Stead, Maurizio Ascari,

Gerri Kimber, Claire Davison-Pégon

Having arrived in London from New Zealand in 1908 to commence her life as a writer, Katherine Mansfield travelled widely in Europe during the 1910s and early 1920s. Rarely was this for pleasure; the notion of escaping from a situation, people, and later her search for a cure for tuberculosis, predetermined much of her journeying. The resonances of this constant travelling and immersion in foreign cultures can be perceived in both her personal writing and her creative endeavours.

Possible topics for discussion might include, but are not limited to:

  

·       KM and Germany

·       KM and Russia

·       KM and Poland

·       KM and Belgium

·       KM and France

·       KM and Italy

·       KM and Switzerland

·       Notion of expatriation and displacement in KM’s stories

·       Responses to, and reception of, KM in Europe

·       KM’s influence on continental writers

·       KM as (post)colonial traveller

A highlight of the conference will be an optional trip on 30 June to nearby Krakow, the home of Poland’s most celebrated artist, Stanislaw Wyspianski, with a visit to see the internationally renowned Wyspianksi museum and the stained glass window in the Franciscan church, the inspiration for two of KM’s poems.

Please send 200 word abstracts for individual papers of 20 minutes, or 500 word proposals for panels of 3 papers to Dr Janka Kaščáková at janka.kascakova@ff.ku.sk   by 1 November 2011. Decisions will be announced by 15 December 2011.