Call for Papers: Urbanity and Beyond: Narratives and Practices

This interdisciplinary event, organized by Vilnius University, the Association for Literary Urban Studies (ALUS) and the Lithuanian Comparative Literature Association, aims to explore the latest theories and trends in urban literature and storytelling, offering a platform for scholars and researchers to discuss the interplay between urban spaces, their narratives, and the lived experiences of their inhabitants.

We propose an extended concept of “urbanity and beyond” to indicate urban’s life’s fluid and dynamic state, shaped by human and non-human networks, including shifts between the city and its outer spaces. The conference also addresses themes surrounding the urban landscape of the host city, considering the complexities Vilnius shares with other historically multicultural and multilingual cities as they confront the challenges posed by global urban crises. We invite you to investigate how contemporary urbanity is represented in literature and culture, how the city is narrated, and how new narratives shape urban realities. 

We also acknowledge that issues like overurbanization, globalization, technology, ecological concerns, and political conflicts around the world influence urban life and storytelling. A key question is how academia reflects on these issues. 

Interdisciplinary and comparative approaches are encouraged, encompassing literary studies, anthropology, urban studies, and literary geography to better understand of the complex relationships of contemporary urban contexts.

Submissions may focus on, but are not limited to, the following topics:

• City and literary imagination; 

• Practices of walking and storytelling in literature and everyday life

• Placemaking and remaking in literature and urban local narratives

• Urban practices of memory and oblivion in urban space

• Symbolic boundaries and transgression inside and outside the city

• (Post)War urban practices and narratives

• Narratives of urban diversity and multiculturalism

• The city as a space of protest and resistance in literature

• Urban ecologies and environmental narratives

• Gendered spaces in urban narratives

• The influence of architecture and urban planning on literature and storytelling

• Visual culture and urban narratives

• Urban legends and mythology

• Posthuman urbanity: literary utopias and dystopias set in urban environments

• (Literary) urbanity and AI; digital urban spaces and cybercities

• Rural urbanity and the role of gardens in the city

• The challenges of informal urbanity, including tent cities, slums and urban subcultures 

  
  

Conference keynote speakers:

• Prof. Dr. Cecile Sandten (Chemnitz University of Technology, ALUS)

• Prof. Dr. Bertrand Westphal (University of Limoge, University Institute of France)

• Prof. Dr. Lieven Ameel (Tampere University, ALUS)

• Prof. Dr. Mindaugas Kvietkauskas (Vilnius University)

Submission Guidelines:

Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words and a brief bio (max. 150 words) to info@llla.lt by 15 March 2026. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 1 April 2026.

Conference Format:

The conference will include keynote speeches, panel sessions, and roundtable discussions. We encourage both established scholars and early-career researchers to participate. Selected papers may be considered for publication in a special issue of a peer-reviewed journal “Acta litteraria comparativa”.

Conference Fee:

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Organized by Vilnius University, the Association for Literary Urban Studies (ALUS) and the Lithuanian Comparative Literature Association

Organizing Committee:

• Lieven Ameel (Tampere University, ALUS)

• Karolina Bagdonė (Tampere University, Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore)

• Mindaugas Kvietkauskas (Vilnius University)

• Laura Laurušaitė (Institute of Lithuanian Literature and Folklore)

• Jekaterina Lavrinec (Laboratory for Urban games and research Laimikis.lt, Vilnius TECH)

• Inga Vidugirytė-Pakerienė, Chair of the Organizing Committee  (Vilnius University)

  
  

Scientific Committee:

• Patricia Garcia (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona)

• Maunu Häyrynen (University of Turku)

• Sheila Hones (University of Tokyo)

• Irène Langlet (Université de Paris Est Marne-la-Vallée)

Contact Information:

For any inquiries, please contact the conference organizers at info@llla.lt.

Photo: Liudas Parulskis, Approaching, 2022.