The 25th Annual International Conference of the English Department, c
The subject matter of inexhaustible debates and, most importantly, disputes between philosophers and scholars from diverse backgrounds, space and time have been perceived, despite their infinite or limited dimension, as inextricably connected categories underlying the existence of matter and various processes unfolding in the universe, on the one hand, and the human existence in all its aspects, on the other. Whether normatively or symbolically represented by disciplines such as physics and mathematics or employed as (visual) narrative modes by literature and the arts, space and time have been scrutinized not only as conventional abstractions, but also as concepts that can be expanded or reconfigured. From Einstein’s theory of relativity, which stands solid proof of the latter perspective, to Paul Ricoeur’s view of the narrative set in a temporal frame, it has become evident today that both categories can no longer be interpreted separately, a perspective also endorsed by Mikhail Bakhtin’s “chronotope”, a concept referring to both spatial and temporal relationships that are expressed in literature.
Now more than ever, in a world in which science and technology have shrunk spatial distances and bridged temporal gaps, this topic could not come at a more timely moment.