After Clarice: Lispector’s Legacy

After Clarice: Lispector’s Legacy, November 17-18, 2017. University of Oxford

Organizers: Claire Williams (Modern Languages, Oxford) and Adriana X Jacobs (Oriental Studies, Oxford)

“After Clarice: Lispector’s Legacy” commemorates the fortieth anniversary of Clarice Lispector’s death, but also aims to analyse her legacy and influence as it has developed in the decades since. This international gathering will evaluate the fluctuations and swerves in Lispector’s critical fortunes, and focus, as well, on the way her works have evolved in translation into other languages and cultures and through other disciplines (film, music, sports and visual arts). Additionally, our conference will address Lispector’s status as a Jewish writer, issues of class and race in her work, translation and reception, as well as the politics of publishing and marketing Lispector for international readerships.

In addition to her stories and novels, this event will move beyond Lispector’s literature to look at her journalism, writing for children, interviews, interfaces with painting and music, and consider the ways these activities shaped her persona and garnered her new readers in a wide range of disciplines. Films inspired by her life and work, as well as the ways actors have portrayed her and her characters will also be discussed. The internationally recognized scholar of Lispector’s life and work, Prof Nádia Battella Gotlib (Universidade de São Paulo), will provide a keynote address.

This event will include a roundtable with contemporary translators and publishers, writers and artists influenced by Lispector’s work, film screenings and a dramatic performance of one of her texts.

We welcome proposals for 20-minute presentations in English or Portuguese. Please include a title, a 200-300-word abstract, and brief bio. Suggested topics include:

  • Multidisciplinary Lispector (sports, fine arts, film, music)
  • Translation and retranslation (We encourage in particular proposals that address translation into non-Western languages.)
  • Lispector in the Museum
  • Lispector and the global publishing industry (marketing, reception, translation into English)
  • Teaching Lispector
  • Class and Race in Lispector
  • Jewish Lispector
  • Domesticity in Lispector
  • Lispector’s journalism, writing for children, interviews
  • Re-writing Lispector

The deadline for proposals is July 1, 2017. Send queries and completed proposals via email to: afterclarice@gmail.com