KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

1. Dr. Alex Taek-Gwang Lee - Kyung Hee University
2. Emmanuel M. Luna, Ph.D. - University of the Philippines
3. Dr. Joff P. N. Bradley - Teikyo University
4. Dr. Ari J. Adipurwawidjana - Universitas Padjadjaran
5. Elisa Dwi Wardani, S.S., M.Hum. (Doctor candidate at Universitas Gadjah Mada) - Universitas Sanata Dharma

CONFERENCE FOCUS

There is a Chinese proverbial blessing: ‘May you not live in interesting times.’ Many of us today have survived through two different centuries with its fin de siecle turmoils, not to mention the catastrophic event of covid pandemic that is still with us now; it is indeed a very ‘interesting time.’ We have experienced this communal affliction not only physically but also in its complex socio-economic and political aspects.

Catastrophe whether in the form of natural disasters, viral and pestilent pandemics, wars, or violences may befall to us indiscriminately, yet it impacts people differently for those privileged or unprivileged ones. We can no longer innocently claim that behind this tragic event we will see the workings of a benevolent God.  Susan Sontag in Illness as Metaphor (1988) has shown how diseases such as tuberculosis and cancer are not only literally perceived but has also become a cultural imagination. Media coverage has widely displayed how covid pandemic has been used as a political rhetoric in many parts of the worlds and how capitalist ventures have accumulated big profits in the name of quarantine protections and medical cures.

In literature, scholars have published books articulating diverse perspectives of literature and catastrophe. Similarly, writers have also produced various literary imaginations of catastrophe from ancient Greek to modern times. From time to time, there is a similar discourse of how catastrophe, its roots, and cures are viewed; and it is always the minority groups who have to shoulder more burdens and consequences.

With such contexts in mind, LSC in its decadal anniversary invites writers, scholars, and researchers to present their critical envisioning of literature and catastrophe with its (un)equal power relation to contribute more scholarly insights in the academia and to create more efforts to lessen the social inequality in our communities.

TOPIC AREAS (Include but not limited to)

Race, Class, & Gender; Apocalyptic Literature; Dystopian Literature; New Media; Ecocide; Language of Catastrophe; (Un)Equal Discourses; (Un)Equality Discourses; (Post)Pandemic Teaching; (Post)Pandemic (Un)Equality in Cultural Practices; (Post)Pandemic and the (De)Mystification of Power; (Post)Pandemic Contestation in Everyday Lives; Catastrophe in Religion, History and Philosophy

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