[KS] CFP From Letterform to Literary site: The Material Lives of Korean Textual Objects, Princeton University, November 6-7, 2026

[Olga Fedorenko]

  FromLetterformtoLiterarysite:TheMaterialLivesofKorean Textual Objects


  Princeton University, November 6-7, 2026


  A conference co-organized by Olga Fedorenko (Seoul National
  University) and Ksenia Chizhova (Princeton) in partnership with the
  Korean Literature Association


  *Accommodation (2 nights in Princeton) and airfare are fully covered
  by the organizers.


We invite papers that trace the life ofthe text from the letterform to 
diverse literary sites—from the smallest gestures ofinscription, 
impression, or typographicmark to the vastarchitectures ofpreservation, 
circulation, and analog and digital display that materialize textual 
meanings and engagements. How can we read the material aspects 
oftextualproduction—engraving, typesetting, coding, layout design—as 
semioticsystems in their own right? How do material lives oftexts become 
entangled with the local and global systems, platforms,environments 
thatauthorize, distribute, andmonumentalizeliterature? How dowords 
travelfrom 
literaturetootherexpressiveforms(painting,posterdesign,graphicart)?Whatistherelationshipbetweenthe 
“inside” and “outside”ofthe text? When does a text begin or stop being 
literary? We aim to move beyond the disciplinary boundaries 
of“literature” to consider the broader field oftextual production in its 
material dimension—a field where writing meets fabrication, design, and 
the infrastructures that shape how texts are made, move, and matter.

•Thelimitsoftext:textualopacity,nontransparency,andfragmentation

•Micro-mechanicsofpublishing:layout,spacing,punctuation

•Codesasnonlinguisticsignification

•Thearchaeologyoftextualform:materials,binding,inscription,andproductionmethodsas 
historical and cultural markers

•Calligraphics,typographics,ideographicsintextualproduction

•Textandtextureinposterdesign,signage,advertising

•Artistic,decorative,andcommercialrepurposingofliterarytexts

•Textassculpturalobject:three-dimensionaltextuality,artisticandformalmanipulations,display, 
arrangement, and architectural integration as spatial and material 
choreography

•Literarysites,memorialspaces,andthemedenvironmentswheretextsmigratefromwrittenform

intophysicalspaces

•Walking,dwelling,andencounteringliterature:embodiedengagementwithtexts

•Themonumentalizationofliterature:howtextsarepreserved,displayed,andtransformedinto 
cultural landscape

•Thetransformationandrepurposingoftextualformsacrossanaloganddigitalmedia

•Digitalizedtextualobjectsandmateriality

•Cross-culturaltranslationandmaterialtransformationoftextualobjects

Please send paper title, a 250-word abstract, five keywords, and a CV, 
to Ksenia Chizhova (kchizhova at princeton.edu) 
<mailto:(kchizhova at princeton.edu>and OlgaFedorenko(fed0renk0 at snu.ac.kr), 
<mailto:(fed0renk0 at snu.ac.kr>cc-ingkorlitorg at gmail.com, 
<mailto:korlitorg at gmail.com>under the subject heading “KLA 2026” by 
*June 15, 2026*.

Presenters will be expected to join the KLA membership program 
(https://koreanlit.org/membership/).
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