The Comparative World Literature Program at California State University, Long Beach, invites abstracts for presentations at its 54th annual conference in Long Beach, California. This year we would like participants to consider the relationship between trauma and memory, both individual and collective memory and their intersections, within a variety of disciplinary contexts. How is a cultural memory formed, or how do cultures remember the past? How do different voices/media contribute to constructing a cultural memory? How does the act of commemorating trauma affect or even alter the way that an experience is remembered?

We invite papers on the following topics, which can include but are not limited to:

between memory and history: cultural memory as representation
in tension with the past: absence and memory
embodied memory: the body as container and conveyer of memory
the role of objects in preserving cultural memory
cultural memory, trauma, and ritual: the role of religion
individual experience and cultural memory: post-colonial approaches
transmitting traumatic memories: the role of culture
the female/trans/queer/etc. body as a carrier of memory
the phenomenon of Holocaust deniers / deniers in general: contesting cultural memory
testimonials / bearing witness: the importance of oral tradition within cultural memory
cultural cognition: how cultural values shape risk perception
the role of culture in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
dealing with trauma through comedy & mediated memory

Proposals for 15-20 minute presentations should clearly explain the relationship of the paper to the conference theme, describe the evidence to be examined, and offer tentative conclusions. Abstracts of no more than 300 words (not including optional bibliography) should be submitted by January 31, 2019. Please submit abstracts as a Word document as an email attachment to comparativeworldliterature@gmail.com. Please do not embed proposals in the text of the email. The conference committee will review all proposals, with accepted papers receiving notification by February 21, 2019.