The topic
In literature, there often exist details that disrupt aesthetic or logical order: an extra syllable in a line of verse, a statue that comes to life, a non sequitur in an argument. These out-of-place or misplaced objects often call attention to themselves because of the disruption they create, the way they subvert our expectations as readers.
On what grounds can we call these objects “misplaced?”
Are they misplaced consciously or unconsciously? If consciously, then why are they misplaced, and do these motives change with time and place?
How do misplaced objects affect our perception of the orders they undermine?
Is the concept of misplacement relative from one society, or culture, or group, to another?
Is misplacement as a technique particular to certain genres or orders?
What kinds of things are usually misplaced (ekphrastic descriptions, mnemonic devices, rhetoric, poetic devices, genre conventions)?
This broad concept of “the misplaced” constitutes the underlying thread linking the papers for this conference. The topic is vast (these ideas do not pretend to be exhaustive) and in this richness lies the power of the group work in which we are involved.