Bratislava, Slovakia
May 14, 2025 – doctoral seminar
May 15-16, 2025 – international translation history colloquium in English and French

The colloquium is co-organized by the Institute of World Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University in Bratislava, and CEFRES – French Research Center in Humanities and Social Sciences – Prague. This event is supported by the Slovak Research and Development Agency under the Contract no. APVV-21-0198.

The colloquium brings together translation and humanities scholars from all around the world, experts starting out in the field as well as established prominent figures to explore the circumstances of non-literary transfers and translations (philosophy, sociology, arts, history, linguistics, etc.) and to study the commonalities and differences between Western and Central-Eastern Europe in this respect. The contributions will focus on the following areas of expertise:

1. histories of humanities translations
2. translation and transfer of scholarly knowledge and their institutional contexts
3. concepts, terminology, types of scholarly texts and their argumentation, stylistic conventions
4. translators and key figures of humanities (case studies)

Apart from a standard conference module with a round table, keynote lecture and sessions, it will also host a doctoral seminar on May 14. Here a specially called up panel of experts consisting of prominent translation and humanities scholars will offer PhD. students greater feedback and an opportunity to discuss their work in detail.

Interpreting into Slovak will be provided. Visitors are welcome to attend the colloquium free of charge and without registration.

The preliminary programs and the original Call for Paper in English and French can be found here:

Programme (EN) / Programme (FR) / Programme: Doctoral Seminar

Call for Papers / Appel à communication

28 and 29 October 2024

The Institute of Polish Literature of the Faculty of Polish Studies at the University of Warsaw and the Institute of World Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences invite you to the International Online Conference Broadening of Poetics 4: Signs of Culture/Signs of Nature Semiotics and Poetics in Relation to Sustainable Development.

Conference organizers:
dr Weronika Lipszyc, dr Anna Tenczyńska, prof. Ewa Szczęsna – The Section of Comparative Studies and the Laboratory of Intersemiotic and Intermedia Research of the Institute of Polish Literature, Faculty of Polish Studies at the University of Warsaw;
prof. Bogumiła Suwara – The Institute of World Literature at the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

The project is carried out as part of cooperation between the Institute of Polish Literature of the Faculty of Polish Studies at the University of Warsaw and the Institute of World Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences.

Conference programme HERE.

The Institute of World Literature of the Slovak Academy of Sciences is organizing in
cooperation with the Faculty of Arts of Comenius University Bratislava and CEFRES the International Colloquium Humanities in Translations – Translation in Humanities. Exploring transfer and reception on 15 and 16 May 2025. The colloquium is part of the APVV research project Translation and aspects of reception of social science and humanities texts as cultural and literary transfer in the 20th century. Colloquium languages: French, English.

Call for Papers / Appel à communication

Application Form / Formulaire d’inscription

Shunqing Cao & Liu Shishi
(Sichuan University, China)

11 September 2024 (Wednesday) at 10:00 CET
Institute of World Literature SAS

This talk aims to explore how the body concept in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons (hereafter Wen Xin Diao Long) represents a unique perspective in Chinese literary theory, linking literary works with human physiological structures such as form, spirit, blood, qi, and organs, forming a “heterogeneous isomorphism” in poetics. According to Liu Xie, literary works possess a unique “form” and “spirit”, akin to the human body. This viewpoint is deeply influenced by traditional Chinese “philosophy of experience”, where the style and substance of poetry correspond to the physical features of the human body. Through this analogy, literary creation is not only a mental activity but also an extension of bodily behavior, achieving a fusion of emotion and style, which resonates with the idea that the body is a unity of flesh and spirit. This lecture points out that the body concept plays a central role in ancient Chinese literary criticism, Continue reading Guest lecture: The Body Aesthetics in The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons: From the Unity of Form and Spirit to the Humanization of Literary Theory →