3^rd International Conference His Master's Voice

More After More: Utopias & Dystopias 1516-2016

10^th-13^th March 2016

Villa Decius in Kraków (Poland)

The way to heaven is the same from all places
Thomas More, Libellus vere aureus

I Conference overview

500 years ago sir Thomas More published the first edition of De Optimo Rei­publicæ Statu deque nova Insula Utopia which inspired innumerable authors who described utopias of their own. A plethora of multimedia contributions to a newly born genre followed encouraging not only writers but also social dreamers and reformers to seek for newer and newer utopian ideas and solutions. Without More's Utopia there would be no utopian tradition, ranging from early modern voyages imaginaires or robinsonades to young adult dystopias, ecotopias, or postapocalyptic narratives of the present day. And so, in order to commemorate this momentous anniversary, we would like to invite utopian and dystopian scholars from all over the world to share their thoughts on the evolution of utopian and dystopian narratives in different media, during the 3^rd special edition of His Master's Voice conference initiative—which will revolve around:

1. Utopian thought from 1516 to 2016;
2. History and theory of utopia and dystopia.
3. Representations of utopias and dystopias in:
   1. literature;
   2. cinema and television;
   3. video games;
   4. graphic novels;
   5. animations & anime;
   6. art;
   7. architecture;
   8. music;
   9. transmedial narratives;
   10. popular culture.
4. Utopia and dystopia retold, reimagined, or renarrated.
5. Utopian and dystopian genres and conventions: voyage imaginaire, robinsonade, young adult dystopia, ecotopia, postapocalyse, cyberpunk and many others.
6. Utopias and dystopias in philosophy, sociology, economy, and cultural theory.
7. Current research in utopian and dystopian studies.

We would also like to organise additional sessions dedicated to interdisciplinary and comparative studies on Thomas More's Utopia.

II Confirmed keynote speakers

Professor GREGORY CLAEYS (Royal Holloway, Great Britain) — Author of Machinery, Money and the Millennium: From Moral Economy to Socialism (Princeton University Press, 1987), Citizens and Saints: Politics and Anti-Politics in Early British Socialism (Cambridge University Press, 1989), Imperial Sceptics: British Anti-Imperialism 1850-1920 (Cambridge University Press, 2010), and Searching for Utopia: the History of an Idea (Thames & Hudson, 2011). He is also co-editor (with Gareth Stedman Jones) of The Cambridge History of Nineteenth-Century Political Thought (Cambridge University Press, 2011). He has also edited some fifty volumes of primary sources, chiefly in the history of utopianism and radicalism. His main research interests lie in the fields of social and political reform movements from the 1790s to the early 20th century, with a special focus upon utopianism and early socialism.

Professor ARTUR BLAIM (University of Gdańsk) — His major book publications include Gazing in Useless Wonder. English Utopian Fictions 1516-1800 (2013), Aesthetic Objects and Blueprints. English Utopias of the Enlightenment (1997), The English Robinsonade of the Eighteenth Century (1990). He co-edited (with Ludmiła Gruszewska-Blaim) Texts of Literature, Texts of Culture (2005), Structure and Uncertainty (2008), Imperfect Worlds and Dystopian Narratives in Contemporary Cinema (2011), Spectres of Utopia. Theory, Practice, Conventions (2012), Mediated Utopias. From Literature to Film (2015). He is co-editor of Peter Lang series Mediated Fictions: Studies in Verbal and Visual Narratives.

Professor LUDMIŁA GRUSZEWSKA-BLAIM (University of Gdańsk) — She specializes in narratology, semiotics of space and contemporary literature in English. Her publications include monographs on modernist and postmodernist literature (Gra w SS. Poetyka /nie/powieści Jerzego Kosińskiego /2005/; Wizje i re-wizje w poezji T.S. Eliota, /1996/; T.S. Eliot: Murder in the Cathedral /co-author, 1995/; The Waste Land by T.S. Eliot /1994/). She published book chapters on utopian/dystopian literature and cinema, academic (mystery) fiction and J.M. Coetzee's novels. She co-edited (with Artur Blaim and David Malcolm) seven volumes on literary and film studies. She is co-editor (with Artur Blaim) of Peter Lang series Mediated Fictions: Studies in Verbal and Visual Narratives.

III Registration, submissions & fees

The conference languages are English and Polish. 600-words abstracts featuring (1) the title of presentation, (2) a concise bio-note, (3) current affiliation, and (4) all necessary contact information (official email address and phone number) should be sent by January 30^th 2016 to hismastersvoiceconference@gmail.com. Successful applicants will be notified two weeks after the deadline.

Attendees are also encouraged to send us full panel proposals composed of (1) abstracts from a minimum number of 4 delegates, (2) up to 600 words description of the panel, (3) a suggested title of the panel and, most importantly, (4) email addresses and phone numbers of all delegates included in the proposed panel.

The conference fee of 150€ covers conference materials, catering (coffee breaks, lun­ches and wine reception) and all other essentials, but does not include accommodation.

IV More info

Further details regarding the venue, suggested accommodation and transportation will be continuously updated at the website www.hismastersvoice.org. Organisers do welcome all questions and requests at hismastersvoiceconference@gmail.com.

The conference will be followed by a peer-reviewed monograph, published by Facta Ficta Research Centre and licenced under Creative Commons 4.0 as an ebook stored in a globally accessible repository (CeON Center for Open Science) and / or in peer-reviewed special editions of renowned scholarly journals. 

We look forward to seeing you in Kraków!

The Organising Committee

Prof. Zbigniew Pasek, PhD • Prof. Andrzej Juszczyk • PhD, Ksenia Olkusz, PhD • Michał Kłosiński, PhD • Krzysztof M. Maj, MA