This conference, hosted by the English Department at the Georg-August-Universität Göttingen and the Lichtenberg Kolleg will be held in the Historic Observatory from 27-29 June, 2013.
From the conference description:
We will consider a wide array of phenomena and questions regarding the aesthetics and historical dynamics of obsolescence in North America: consumerism and commodity culture, object culture and theories of materiality and trash, architecture and urban culture, literature and the book market, technological development and media history, as well as the accelerated living conditions and short-lived e-technologies in the age of the digital. We consider obsolescence a governing principle of production and consumption that developed under modern capitalism and characterizes not only economic developments but cultural dynamics and values as well.
For more details, including information on how to sign up, please visit the conference website.
Book History and Print Culture Network 