Call for Papers for Issue 22 (November 2023)

Submission Deadline: August 15, 2023

 

Guest Editors:

Christian Soffel (University of Trier)

I-Kai Jeng (National Taiwan University)

Tim Dressler (University of Trier) 


Innovation and Tradition in the Philosophy of the East and the West 

In many places in the world, success stories and innovation patterns link to narratives rooted in the historical tradition of a cultural sphere. Generally speaking, we can recognize two fundamental methods to deal with one’s cultural heritage: Either acknowledging the past as a rich source of cultural identity or as the origin of behaviorist patterns that strengthen or even enforce a positive development leading to innovation or a brighter future; or, conversely, perceiving the tradition as a heavy burden from the past that one needs to get rid of, whereby this emancipatory process can again serve as a stimulus of innovation.

Both in the Western World and in East Asia, individual philosophers and schools of thought have found argumentative ways to deal with this issue, which often led again to new discourses. Furthermore, innovative and traditionalist positions interacted with historical trends and social developments. Awareness and investigations of how these strategies interweave and create various senses of continuity and discontinuity shall restore narratives and arguments to their proper historical context and enrich our understanding of the long-lasting impact the successful instances have had. 

interface –Journal of European Languages and Literatures is inviting original unpublished papers written in English, French, German, Spanish, Russian, or Italian for interface Issue 22, to be published in November 2023.

We welcome contributions from established researchers, postdoctoral and early-career scholars, and postgraduate students.

Topics may include (but are not limited to):

  • The ways in which thinkers have reacted to and coped with the intrinsic tension between innovation and tradition
  • The ways the standpoints of innovators and traditionalists have been presented and articulated in various times and places, as well as the perception of authorities and elites of their standpoint
  • The ways narratives of innovation and narratives of tradition have been constructed in a philosophical context
  • The ways these narratives have been interpreted and linked to each other
  • The role of political ideologies in interpreting or reshaping tradition and innovation
  • How past narratives of innovation are shaping the more recent ones
  • The views towards occasions where innovation or tradition were particularly successful or unsuccessful in shaping the philosophical discourse, and the interpretations of these successes or failures
  • Whether certain types of narratives or argumentative patterns in virtue of their form or structure favor innovation or tradition.

interface also invites papers not related to the Special Topic which will be published in a dedicated General Topic Section.

Papers should be submitted online at http://interface.org.tw/ no later than August 15, 2023.

All potential authors should consult our website for Author Guidelines (http://interface.org.tw/index.php/if/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions)