Gabrakova, Utopian Studies Conference, Toronto
The Society for Utopian Studies is a home for scholars across a variety of disciplines, united by their interest in the problematic of utopia. In a unique way, specialists in political science, economics, architecture, literary studies and other fields share the historical and theoretical background of this problematic. There is really something positive and genuinely utopian in the establishing of such a community of research and the city of Toronto was a perfect site for it with its wide streets, green parks, and skyscrapers.
Two presentations from Japan: Professor Angela Yiu from Sophia University, who presented her research on Mushakoji Saneatsu, Atarashikimura and the Great Asia Co-prosperity zone and myself with the second half of my research project on the utopian utterance “Save the Children!”. It was a challenging and stimulating experience to speak about the Japanese writer Shimada Masahiko in front of an audience, who has never heard of him and still receive interesting comments.
With the latest issue of Society’s journal Utopian Studies in my bag, I left the country of the maple leaves to re-discover later in the airplane the thrilling structure of future-oriented memory.