The Migrations of the Book virtual conference brings together a community of scholars from across disciplines and around the globe to investigate how books act both as vehicles for, and monuments of cultural exchange, and to consider what we may learn from this persistent tension between constancy and mutability that is so integral to the medium.
What happens to a text when it is transported from its native Spain to the colonial frontiers of Mexico?
How is our consideration of a Science Fiction pulp magazine augmented when its fantastical contents become commonplace in our daily lives?
What can book conservators teach us about how a book has been influenced by the tastes and biases of its prior readers?
What role do material texts play in the lives of the displaced or dispossessed?
The book is a critical concept as resilient as it is amorphous, as fixed as it is fluid. It operates as a place of memory, where communication, intellectual advancement, and cultural contact may be reposed and retrieved. As often, however, books are characterized by their movement and circulation, as well as their ability to be reconstructed and reconsidered in different contexts to create new meaning.
Migrations of the Book brings together a community of scholars from across disciplines and around the globe to investigate how books act both as vehicles for, and monuments of cultural exchange, and to consider what we may learn from this persistent tension between constancy and mutability that is so integral to the medium.
If you require an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), please contact Dr. Marini, fmarini@library.tamu.edu, to communicate your needs. Early notification is encouraged, and a request 5 workdays before the event you plan to attend will facilitate the provision of a reasonable accommodation.
Kevin M. O’Sullivan is Curator of Rare Books and Manuscripts for the Cushing Memorial Library & Archives at Texas A&M University, where he also serves as the Director of the Book History Workshop.