A one-day international and cross-disciplinary conference exploring the intersections of the work of J.G. Ballard and the sciences.
25 November 2017
LAB 109, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge
Key Note Speaker: Christopher Priest
Hosted by the Anglia Ruskin Centre for Science Fiction and Fantasy (CSFF)
“Science and technology multiply around us. To an increasing extent they dictate the languages in which we speak and think. Either we use those languages, or we remain mute.” J.G. Ballard
From The Drowned World’s early meditations on ecology, to the provocative prosthetics of Crash, through to the psychopathologies at work (or rather play) in Cocaine Nights, Super-Cannes and Kingdom Come, the writings of J.G. Ballard are in constant dialogue with the discourses of science and technology. As a result, his novels and short stories function as vast indexes of scientific innovation and enquiry, immersing the reader in the complex yet often beautiful languages of biology, chemistry, zoology, medicine, botany, neuroscience, bioethics, anatomy, biotechnology and psychology, to name just a few.
Papers are invited on all aspects of the intersections between J.G. Ballard and science. Proposals are welcomed from researchers at all stages of their career, including postgraduate students, independent scholars and creative writers.
Please send proposals or abstracts of up to 300 words along with a short biography to Jeannette Baxter by 31 August 2017.
