The Publishing Sphere – Ecosystems of Contemporary Literatures

The realm of writing has never been so extensive; nor has the idea of publication ever been so plural. Not a day passes without a great percentage of humanity publishing one or numerous texts: on a blog, a social media network, or elsewhere. A two-day program of performative live publishing will celebrate this emerging sphere with talks and conversations, readings, sound performances, interventions, and more. Radio Brouhaha, launched at the event, will livestream the final evening, capturing sounds of ambiance and infrastructure.

The traditional idea of the solitary author in direct contact with his editor, and speaking in absentia to an anonymous public is obsolete. In recent years an abundance of literary practices – performances, public readings, sound and visual work and new public spaces– have emerged, forming a vibrant artistic and political “publishing sphere.” If it is true that the imaginary of modern literature is constitutive of the fantasy of a “good” public sphere of democracy then we must find what kind of societies are emerging from the publishing sphere we are faced with today.

At The Publishing Sphere scholars, writers, artists, and representatives of initiatives will investigate the different locations of contemporary literatures between an abstract sphere and a material space. They explore what constitutes a literary work beyond the materiality of the book, expose other forms of publishing besides texts, and survey the agents and players who inhabit the field. Alternating between round table discussions, performative miniature elements, workshop reach-outs, and literary readings they will scrutinize their pre-reflections, research notes, image materials, literary references, to create a publishing sphere of their own.

The Publishing Sphere is convened by Lionel Ruffel (Université Paris 8) with Annette Gilbert (Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen) in cooperation with Franziska Morlok (Fachhochschule Potsdam). With Hannes Bajohr, François Bon, Vincent Broqua, Manuel Bürger, Thomas Boehm, continent. – Publishing Collective (Jamie Allen, Paul Boshears and Bernhard Garnicnig), David Desrimais, Hanna Engelmeier, Christiane Frohmann, Mathias Gatza, Mara Genschel, Tobias Haberkorn, Margaret Hillenbrand, Ho Tzu Nyen, Jan Niklas Howe, Hanna Kuusela, Geert Lovink, Olivier Marboeuf, Ingo Niermann, Jakob Nolte, Miriam Rasch, Gerald Raunig, Felwine Sarr, Danny Snelson, Camille de Toledo, Marcello Vitali-Rosati, Elena Vogman, Binyavanga Wainaina, Caleb Waldorf, Gregor Weichbrodt

The conference language is English.

The Publishing Sphere is affiliated to the 9th Internationaler Literaturpreis awarded at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt on July 6, 2017.

The Publishing Sphere is supported by Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Université Paris Lumières, the Institut Universitaire de France and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation via the professorship of Irene Albers at Peter Szondi-Institut für Allgemeine und Vergleichende Literaturwissenschaft of the Freie Universität Berlin.