3rd World Congress of Scottish Literatures

On 22–26 June, the Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures at CU FA will welcome around 150 delegates from all over the world at the congress, the main programme of which will take place in the main building of the Faculty of Arts, Charles University. The congress is co-organized with International Association for the Study of Scottish Literatures.

The first World Congress of Scottish Literatures was held in Glasgow (2014) and the second in Vancouver (2017). The fact that the third Congress has been entrusted to the Department of Anglophone Literatures and Cultures is an expression of international recognition and the department’s efforts to develop the field of Scottish Studies at the Faculty of Arts and in the Czech Republic.

The programme of the congress emphasises European and global dimension of Scottish literature including international inspirations and influences, translations, reception, and works of Scottish authors who also have been active abroad. The congress also reflects the diversity of Scottish literature – there are papers from different field on Scottish literature in English, Gaelic, and Scots, ranging from Edinburgh and Glasgow up to the northern archipelago Orkney and Shetland Islands. Beside panels about the most famous authors, such as R. L. Stevenson, Robert Burns and Walter Scott, the programme features papers focused on contemporary literature. Several sessions are devoted to works of Scottish women writers as well as works dealing with nature, landscape, and ecology.

At the opening ceremony in Karolinum, the delegates will be welcomed by Dr Eva Lehečková, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, the organizers of the congress – Prof Martin Procházka and Dr Petra Johana Poncarová – and the Convenor of the International Association for the Study of Scottish Literatures, Prof Carla Sassi.

The programme also includes an evening with Scottish music and dancing, Ceilidh Dance, on Friday, 24 June, which is also open to the faculty members and students (please, contact PetraJohana.Poncarova@ff.cuni.cz for more information).

During the congress, a bilingual exhibition “Česko-skotské vztahy / Czech-Scottish Relations” will be launched. Afterwards, it will be freely accessible at the main building of the Faculty of Arts. Twelve panels represent the relations between the two countries, their historical intersections, translations of Scottish literature into Czech as well as achievements in the field of Scottish studies at the Faculty of Arts so far.

You may see the full programme here.