The 11th Annual Modernist Studies Association conference, "The Languages of Modernism," will be held November 5-8, 2009, in Montréal, Québec, Canada at the Delta Centre-Ville. Visit the official conference web site.

The conference theme, “The Languages of Modernism,” refers to established languages such as English and French, as well as the many “languages” associated with cultural production: languages of music, visual art, architecture, theatre, dance, scenography, and cinema. Some groups—youth culture, the fashion industry, popular music, the avant-garde—generate specialized languages that cross into mainstream understanding. Many modernists lived between, or among, languages: James Joyce wrote in English, but he spoke French and Italian fluently; Billy Wilder and Marlene Dietrich grew up speaking German, but had their greatest success in English-speaking Hollywood. Modernism is crisscrossed by philosophies of language, as well as attempts to streamline language, as in C. K. Ogden’s invention of BASIC English. “The Languages of Modernism” can be construed to mean vernacular, international, interdisciplinary, verbal and non-verbal, technological, aesthetic, and other kinds of “language.”

Although “The Languages of Modernism” is the theme of the conference, participants are welcome to submit panel, seminar, and roundtable proposals on any topic; the primary criterion for selection will be the quality of the proposal, not its link to the conference theme.

The following locations and, in some cases, dates, have been confirmed for upcoming MSA conferences. These are subject to change.

MSA 12 (2010): November 11-14, 2010. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Fairmont Hotel.

MSA 13 (2011): October 6-9, 2011. Buffalo, New York; Hyatt Regency Hotel.