“Urbanity and Beyond”: International Conference Explored Urban Narratives and Their Horizons
From 24 to 26 September, the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University hosted the conference 'Urbanity and Beyond: Narratives and Practices', devoted to urban literary studies. It was organised by the Faculty in collaboration with the Association for Literary Urban Studies (ALUS) and the Lithuanian Comparative Literature Association, and in partnership with Vilnius – UNESCO City of Literature.
The programme included five plenary lectures and 40 papers, with presenters from Belgium, Canada, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the USA. The conference offered a forum for academic discussion of the city and its boundaries in literature, of narratives and practices of and within the city, and of the interplay between literary urbanism and what lies beyond it.
The plenary presentations outlined the broad scope of literary urbanism. Prof. Bertrand Westphal spoke about street art; Prof. Lieven Ameel addressed the presence of literature in public space; Prof. Cecile Sandten analysed the palimpsestic nature of the city and its representation in (post-)colonial literature; Dr Laimonas Briedis discussed the imaginary of Vilnius in European culture; and Prof. Mindaugas Kvietkauskas explored the multilingual literary tradition of early 20th-century Vilnius.
In the papers, the concept of 'beyond the city' emerged through topics such as urban nature, historical and discursive conflicts, tensions between centre and margins, immigration, trauma, and the unconscious. The conference confirmed that the city remains a significant concept in literary and cultural studies, and that it continues to inspire writers, artists, and researchers to explore its space.
The conference concluded with two guided tours. The first, 'Vilnius: City of Strangers', was led by Dr Laimonas Briedis through downtown Vilnius. The second was led by urban anthropologist Dr Jekatrina Lavrinec, who took participants to Šnipiškės, a district known for its wooden architecture, where they played an educational game and met local residents.
Take a look at some moments from the conference:
Photos from the conference: Miglė Kalinauskaitė / Vilniaus universitetas
Photos from the tour: Laura Laurušaitė ir Inga Vidugirytė.
This project has received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No S-ACO-26-20 and S-MOR-26-23. As well it was funded by GoVilnius, and the Faculty of Philology at Vilnius University.
