New Approaches to Isaac Bashevis Singer
The conference will take place at the University of Texas, Austin and The Harry Ransom Center (HRC) which holds the archive of I.B. Singer. In connection with the conference, the HRC will create an exhibit of materials from the Singer archive. The president of the Yiddish Book Center, Aaron Lansky will give a public lecture on March 27, 2022. Dr. Jan Schwarz, who has worked extensively with the Singer Collection at HRC, will deliver the conference’s academic keynote. The conference and exhibit are a collaboration between the Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies at UT, the HRC and Lund University, Sweden.
The archive at the HRC is a rich source of primary material – manuscripts, correspondence, interviews etc. – which have enablednew, exciting approaches to Singer. The ongoing digitization of the Jewish press gives easy access to Yiddish newspapers and journals such as Literarishe bleter, Undzer expres and Forverts to which Singer contributed as freelancer and staff writer for almost sixty years.
We invite proposals for papers that utilize the primary sources listed above as well as other Yiddish materials in methodologically innovative ways. The conference will include sessions about various aspects of Singer’s work in the context of interdisciplinary fields such as (but not limited to) world literature, translation, feuilleton, life-writing, gender and performance. Conference proposals should have a specific focus that is formulated in a way that opens it up to scholars from all disciplines working on any aspect of Singer’s work and/or legacy. The goal is to assemble a group of scholars who will bring a diversity of perspectives on Isaac B. Singer.
We will provide accommodations (hotel and meals) in Austin for the duration of the conference. There will be a possibility for coverage of travel expenses for younger scholars. All arrangements are subject to change according to policies of The University of Texas at Austin.
Please send an abstract of about 300 words and a current vita to lichtens@austin.utexas.edu by October 15, 2021. We plan to publish the conference proceedings in a special issue of an academic journal or an edited book.
Conference Organizers:
- Jan Schwarz, Associate Professor, Centre for Languages and Literatures, Lund University, Sweden (Jan.Schwarz@sol.lu.se)
- Itzik Gottesman, Senior Lecturer, Department of Germanic Studies & Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, The University of Texas at Austin (itzikgottesman@utexas.edu)
- Hans C. Boas, Professor, Department of Germanic Studies and Department of Linguistics, The University of Texas at Austin (hcb@austin.utexas.edu)
- Tatjana Lichtenstein, Associate Professor, Department of History. Director, Schusterman Center for Jewish Studies, The University of Texas at Austin – lichtens@austin.utexas.edu