What, when & where
World Weary: Cultures of Exhaustion
21-22 May 2020, University of York, UK
Keynote Speakers:
Claire Colebrook, Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of English, Penn State University, USA
Daisy Hildyard, author of The Second Body (2018)
How does contemporary culture make sense of weary worlds? Exhaustion can be used to describe both the depletion of planetary resources and a structural waning of social and economic equity. Similarly, the burden of exhaustion is increasingly justified by an ideology of resilience and ‘mindful’ ethical consumerism, even as its effects are carried disproportionately across populations. When it comes to conceptualising sequestration, burnout and extinction, what do these terms tell us about the limitations of the imaginary of exhaustion itself and how are they extrapolated through visual, literary or theoretical modes? This interdisciplinary conference welcomes papers from all disciplines and cross-genre work in the humanities, sciences and at the convergence of art and activism. We are interested in responses to the varied representations of exhaustion, particularly with regard to instrumental and coalitional axes that discern the shape and feel of exhaustion in contemporary life.
Deadline & how to apply
Please send a 250-word proposal and short biography to the conference organisers. The deadline for proposals is 10 January 2020. More information is available at worldweary2020.co.uk.
Other info, Links & conditions
Conference organisers:
Gabriella Beckhurst – gabriella.beckhurst.19@ucl.ac.uk
Francesca Curtis – fc710@york.ac.uk
Cecilia Tricker-Walsh – ctricker-walsh1@sheffield.ac.uk
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