The annual 2018 boundary 2 conference from November 1-3 at University of Pittsburgh was on the subject of “Does Attention to Language Matter?” Philology, criticism, and translation are three techniques that reveal the constant importance of language to all forms of humanistic activity and artistic creativity. This conference was a reminder of the risks that come from forgetting the realities of language and an important reminder of these disciplines’ vital role in regulating the relation between meaning and word, between power and value. You can find the full event schedule here.
Nuruddin Farah, reading from Maps
Jeff Sacks on “The Philological Thesis: Language Without Ends”
David Golumbia on “The Deconstruction of Philology”
Leah Feldman on “Embodying Philology: Theater Adaptation in Post-Soviet Central Asia”
Howard Eiland on “No Getting Around It”
Jonathan Arac on “Ways of Working with Language”
Susan Gillespie on “The Possibility of Translation”
