{"id":15613,"date":"2025-12-02T14:01:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/?p=15613"},"modified":"2025-12-02T14:01:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T13:01:26","slug":"alterity-dialogues-on-difference-and-identity-in-romance-studies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/alterity-dialogues-on-difference-and-identity-in-romance-studies\/","title":{"rendered":"Alterity – Dialogues on Difference and Identity in Romance Studies"},"content":{"rendered":"

30th Carolina Conference for Romance Studies<\/strong>
\nUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill<\/strong>
\nApril 17-18, 2026<\/strong>
\nSubmission Deadline: January 31st 2026<\/strong>
\nKeynote Speaker: Dr. Madeleine Dobie<\/strong><\/p>\n

The concept of alterity, or \u201cotherness,\u201d denotes the condition of being different from, and defined in opposition to, the self. Far from a static distinction, this opposition of self and other has evolved across time and cultures, reflecting shifting social, political, and symbolic orders. The meaning of alterity itself is plural and contingent, taking on multiple forms essential to understanding human relationships. This complexity further deepens when considered through the Lacanian domains of the Real, the Imaginary, and the Symbolic, which structure how subjects relate to the other in language, desire, and social order. Such frameworks are especially valuable for literary analysis, where symbolism and representation continuously negotiate and redefine these boundaries.<\/p>\n

The modern idea of otherness draws on insights from psychology, philosophy, politics, sociology, and literature. Starting from Alfred Schutz\u2019s perspective, writing in exile during the Nazi era, where the \u201cstranger\u201d is forced to assimilate to survive, and moving to the German sociologist Georg Simmel, who saw the stranger as both near and distant, we find the foundations for modern accounts of otherness. Building on them, Bauman\u2019s notion of liquid modernity, Said\u2019s critique of the construction of the \u201ccolonial Other\u201d, and Fanon\u2019s analysis of colonial control reveal how modern systems rely on exclusion and violence against those who resist established norms. These genealogies of alterity become especially urgent in the context of colonialism, where the construction of \u201cthe other\u201d was central to imperial domination and the shaping of national imaginaries. Given the colonial entanglements of Romance cultures, the critical examination of alterity is indispensable, and literature offers a privileged space in which otherness can be represented, resisted, or reimagined.<\/p>\n

In contrast to a view of alterity defined purely by opposition or domination, there is also the notion of the \u201cother\u201d as a new reality to explore and learn from. Across history and literature, the \u201cother\u201d is not always an entity to subjugate or resist, but one that inspires curiosity and genuine interest. Encounters with the \u201cother\u201d have offered opportunities to gain fresh perspectives on the world, revealing both the nature and limitations of the \u201cself.\u201d Within the Enlightenment and Western engagement with the so-called \u201cOrient,\u201d Aravamudan (2011) argues that it would be reductive to view these interactions solely as relationships of domination; efforts toward cross-cultural understanding were frequently made, and Enlightenment thinkers often subjected \u201cthe self\u201d to as much critique as \u201cthe other.\u201d Such engagements with alterity have historically fostered relativism, tolerance, and the comparative study of law, religion, and custom, ultimately prompting self-reflection and critique. This dynamic shifting with the observer\u2019s gaze, finds vivid expression in different literary works.<\/p>\n

Before the 17th and 18th centuries, the representation of the \u201cOther\u201d was largely the domain of missionaries and early ethnographers, whose accounts often served imperial interests and relied on forms that maintained a clear sense of distance and superiority. With the emergence of travel narratives in the early modern period, however, the figure of the \u201cOther\u201d began to be depicted in more complex ways. \u201cExotic\u201d epistolary novels, such as Montesquieu\u2019s Lettres persanes (1721), Madame de Graffigny\u2019s Lettres d\u2019une P\u00e9ruvienne (1747), and their literary legacy, often portray \u201cOriental\u201d characters in a favorable light, while Europeans appear flawed. Behind the guise of foreign travelers stands the European author, whose seemingly na\u00efve characters become a vehicle for critiquing European society and religion, suggesting that the \u201cOther\u201d was never truly separate, and the boundary between West and East less clear than it seemed.<\/p>\n

In contemporary literature, science fiction is a genre that is uniquely equipped to probe the boundaries of identity and difference. Presenting \u201cthe other\u201d in manifold forms\u2014whether as a non-human animal, a robot, an alien, a monster\u2014science fiction interrogates alterity not as an external threat but as a reflective mirror for self-understanding, identity critique, and cross-cultural empathy. Fredric Brown\u2019s short story Sentry (1954), for example, overturns the protagonist\u2019s, and the reader\u2019s, perception of terrifying alien enemies when they are ultimately revealed to be human.<\/p>\n

The 30th annual Carolina Conference for Romance Studies invites graduate and undergraduate students, professors, scholars, and authors from any discipline to submit scholarly essays that address or investigate the theme of alterity as it pertains to the far-reaching Romance world. Potential fields, theoretical approaches, and topics of interest may include but are not limited to the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Animal Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Antihumanism<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Art History<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Biopolitics<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Border Studies\/Migration<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Classical Antiquity<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Colonial, Decolonial, and Postcolonial Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Comparative Literature<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Critical Race Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cultural Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Disability Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Ecocriticism<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/td>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Environmental Humanities\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Feminist Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Film Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gender and Women\u2019s Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 History<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Indigenous Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jewish Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Language and Identity<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Linguistics<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Medical Humanities<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Memory Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Modern & Early Modern Literature Studies<\/td>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Modernism and Avant-Gardes\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Performance Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Posthumanism<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Queer Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Religious Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Renaissance Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Science-fiction<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sexuality Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Transatlantic Studies<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Transhumanism<\/p>\n

\u25cf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Violence and Trauma Studies<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please submit abstracts of up to\u00a0250 words<\/strong>\u00a0using the submission form via the\u00a0CCRS website<\/strong>\u00a0(ccrs.unc.edu). The deadline for submission is\u00a0January 31st<\/strong>,\u00a02026<\/strong>. We welcome papers submitted in\u00a0French, English, Italian, Portuguese, or Spanish<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Panel proposals and roundtables that are language and\/or topic-specific are also welcomed, and each participant should individually complete a submission form. Please direct any questions to\u00a0ccrs@unc.edu<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Submissions must include the following information:<\/p>\n

\u25cf Name:
\n\u25cf Email Address:
\n\u25cf Affiliation:
\n\u25cf Classification: (Professor, Ph.D. Student, M.A. Student, Undergraduate Student, Post-doc, independent researcher, etc.)
\n\u25cf Presentation Title:
\n\u25cf Abstract (250 words, single-spaced):
\n\u25cf Relevant Time Period(s) and Country(-ies):
\n\u25cf Keywords (up to six):<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30th Carolina Conference for Romance Studies University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill April 17-18, 2026 Submission Deadline: January 31st 2026 Keynote Speaker: Dr. Madeleine Dobie The concept of alterity, or \u201cotherness,\u201d denotes the condition of being different from, and defined in opposition to, the self. Far from a static distinction, this opposition of self […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":15314,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"categorie_personnage":[],"class_list":["post-15613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-appels-contribution"],"translation":{"provider":"WPGlobus","version":"3.0.0","language":"gb","enabled_languages":["fr","gb"],"languages":{"fr":{"title":true,"content":true,"excerpt":false},"gb":{"title":false,"content":false,"excerpt":false}}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15613"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15613\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15615,"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15613\/revisions\/15615"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15613"},{"taxonomy":"categorie_personnage","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/siefar.org\/gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categorie_personnage?post=15613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}