そろそろ西部戦線も

東部（翻訳）戦線での膠着した戦況とベルリン（吉祥寺）の本部における様々な問題を抱えながら、西部方面（ペンシルベニア）作戦に関してしばらく思考停止状態であったのだが、本日朝から意を決してチャールズ・シェパードソン将軍に電信（メール）を打つ（返事が大幅に遅れてしまいヤバい）。つまり作戦（発表）の概要とか、a brief biographical sketchとかを打電（送信）する。作文しているうちになんとなく頭の中が整理できてくるような感じも。ちなみに西部方面作戦の概要をここだけの話として紹介しよう（早晩、HPができるかも）：

CONFERENCE DATE AND LOCATION
The conference, as previously planned, will take place in Philadelphia, at the University of Pennsylvania, Oct 22-23.

CONFERENCE TITLE
The title for our 2009 conference is “Psychoanalysis and Philosophy in East Asia: History, Community, Esthetics.” The idea is to maintain an orientation towards East Asia, without requiring presentations to focus on the topic of East Asia. The subtitle is intended to invite papers that deal with cultural, political and esthetic questions, without exclusively mandating this focus.

CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
The conference will begin on Thursday morning (10/22) and end on Friday night (10/23). Each speaker is asked to present for 40 minutes.

PARTICIPANTS
Participants include the following people. We are currently working on a few additional American participants for the conference, but our main speakers are as follows:

Japan
Shingu Kazushige, Kyoto University
Kobayashi Yasuo, Tokyo University
Hara Kazuyuki, Tokyo University
Endo Fuhito, Seikei University

Taiwan
Liao Hsien-hao (Sebastian Liao), National Taiwan University
Liao Chaoyang, National Taiwan University
Liu Chi-hui (Joyce Liu), National Chiao Tung University

Hong Kong
Mirana May Szeto, Hong Kong University

South Korea
Kim Youngmin, Dongguk University

Australia
Russell Grigg, Deakin University

Conference Organizer: Charles Shepherdson, State University of New York at Albany
Conference Co-Organizers, Jean-Michel Rabaté and David Eng, University of Pennsylvania

CONFERENCE TOPIC
Following our 2008 conference in Taiwan, we have conceived this conference in a fairly open way, to include work that all of you are doing from different perspectives, but we have maintained a basic focus on two main issues. (1) First, we wish to explore the relationship between psychoanalysis and contemporary philosophy (mainly but not exclusively French philosophy). We are interested in elaborating the contribution that psychoanalysis can make, not only within its own circles, but in relation to contemporary philosophy and cultural theory. What does psychoanalysis contribute to current debates in philosophy concerning subjectivity, cultural identity, esthetic practices, language, ethics, historical memory, and the many issues that arise around the question of politics and cultural difference (nationalism, religion, biopolitics, globalization, diaspora, colonialism, and other related matters)? (2) Second, we wish to explore the special challenges or questions that arise when the intersection of psychoanalysis and philosophy is considered from the perspective of East Asia. What happens when psychoanalytic theory is extended into the region and cultures of East Asia? How do the very different religious, ethical, medical, philosophical and esthetic traditions of East Asia challenge or illuminate the fundamental concepts of psychoanalysis, and related concepts in contemporary philosophy? What contributions or questions arise for debates about subjectivity and culture, when one considers the specific historical and political experiences of countries across East Asia, with its very different ethical, linguistic, religious and philosophical foundations, and its own particular histories of cultural fluidity, hybridization, diaspora, colonization, and so on?

INTERNATIONAL SOCIETY
This double focus is related to a larger goal of our conference, namely, the establishment of a new international society for psychoanalysis and culture in East Asia that will support future collaboration and research in this area, and allow us to work together in a more sustained and regular way. This new society will have participants from East Asia (Taiwan, Japan, Korea, and Hong Kong at present), but also from other countries (the United States, England, France, Australia and elsewhere). Given the diversity of participants, and their different disciplinary orientations, our conference is open to work that does not bear directly on East Asia, while at the same time it retains an East Asian orientation, partly due to the practical matter of the regional location and membership of the society, and partly due to the theoretical contributions that arise when the encounter between psychoanalysis and philosophy is considered from the perspective of East Asia. Some of our participants will have expertise and interests in East Asia, and others will have more purely theoretical interests, or will be working in areas (philosophy, cultural theory, literature and film, etc) that do not necessarily address East Asia. We hope to include both types of work, and we regard them as mutually beneficial and overlapping. Furthermore, our participants come from several disciplinary backgrounds, as well as from different countries. We hope to maintain a focus that can include these disciplinary and national differences in a fruitful way. While keeping a broadly inclusive orientation, we recognize that the specific cultural and historical experiences of East Asia have an important role to play in this new organization – not only for the pragmatic reason that many of its members will come from East Asia, but also for more fundamental conceptual reasons. The very questions we are exploring at the intersections among psychoanalysis, philosophy, and contemporary cultural theory can be advanced and developed more adequately if the experiences and perspectives of East Asia are a central part of this conceptual work. We will try to arrange time during the conference to discuss this new organization together.

The program of our previous conference at National Taiwan University remains available on-line, and participants are welcome to refer to it for further information on the initial conceptualization of the program, and the work that was presented at that event: http://tuche.fll.ntu.edu.tw/lacan/

ここで紹介されている人以外にも北米から何人か参加する模様である。考えてみればこの国際会議まであまり時間がないのだよね。それにしてもワイドショーが面白すぎて困ってしまう。小生、芸能ネタとか女子アナネタには途方もないvulnerabilityを有している。

追記：今晩9時からNHKで放映していた海軍軍令部に関するドキュメンタリーは例のごとく世界水準の出来であったが、ともかくもむかし大岡昇平が嫌いであるといっていた「日本人」が典型的に露出しており、これこそがなによりも反戦的な効果があると思う。