Two of the world’s most influential literary theorists will weigh in to the critical literacy debate when they headline a conference at UQ later this month.
J Hillis Miller and Derek Attridge are the keynote speakers for Mourning and its Hospitalities, which is hosted by the University’s School of English, Media Studies and Art History (EMSAH) from July 18-21.
Both academics were long-term colleagues and friends of the late Jacques Derrida, the famous French philosopher whose theories continue to influence research and teaching across the humanities.
EMSAH’s Dr Jude Seaboyer and Dr Tony Thwaites are convening the conference, which is inspired by Derrida’s work and will be followed by a special symposium addressing the challenges facing literature teaching today.
“With university funding in its current state and with the often-debated state of the English syllabus in high schools, it’s easy to feel that English is not what it should be or what we remember it as being,” Dr Thwaites said.
“One of the things we want to do with this conference and symposium is think about what we can do, what the situation is hospitable to, what we can bring out of it.”
Miller and Attridge are leading figures in what Derrida called deconstruction – a form of close reading that acknowledges the gaps and contradictions within texts.
Dr Seaboyer said she hoped the symposium would inspire thorough and informed debate about how English was taught in Australia.
“Our cultural memory is gathered together in texts going right back through time,” she said.
“If we think that it’s important to know where we’ve come from and where we are headed, then it’s important the next generation knows about these texts, and knows how to interpret them.”
Members of the public are invited to attend free lectures by Professor Attridge and Professor Miller at 9.30am on July 18 (Forgan Smith E302) and 3.30pm on July 20 (Parnell 234) respectively.
Those interested in participating in the teaching symposium on July 21 are welcome to register via the conference website.
Mourning and its Hospitalities comes shortly after the 2007 Association for the Studies of Australian Literature conference, which was hosted by UQ earlier this month.
Media: Dr Seaboyer (07 3365 2135, j.seaboyer@uq.edu.au), Dr Thwaites (07 3365 2086, t.thwaites@uq.edu.au) or Cameron Pegg at UQ Communications (07 3365 2049, c.pegg@uq.edu.au)
