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Charles T. Rubin, Duquesne University, rubin@duq.edu

The theme "Politics in Motion" first of all calls our attention to change. But it thereby implicitly requires that we also consider preservation, the other pole that perennially defines the alternatives between which political action cycles. Literature, film and popular culture cannot but provide rich reflection on these twinned themes, particularly insofar as they have become linked with the broad idea of "progress." When fiction considers change or the prospect of change, it need have no pretense of scholarly neutrality, but can speak boldly to the essential normative question of whether change is for the better --and hence progress-- or for the worse.

In modern times particularly, there is nearly an obsession with comparing the way we live now with the way we were, and even with things to come. Authors and film-makers are adept at exposing the ills of the present in comparison with imagined pasts or futures. Panels and papers might highlight such comparison in literature and film from a variety of genres: e.g., social criticism, historical fiction or science fiction. At the same time, fiction questions change by revealing hidden continuities, the utopian foundations of future societies, and the pretensions underlying the notion of progress. And at this first "North American" conference, let us remember the cultural role in how we think about change; panels or papers that highlight Canadian film and literature will be welcome.

The fact that literary works can retain their freshness and appeal over generations, even centuries should cause reflection on the theme of novelty. How are we to evaluate those best sellers, literary lions, and Academy Award and Nobel Prize winners whose "pathbreaking" efforts survive no longer than their authors--if that long? We also know that genres in fiction come and go over time; might the study of the rise of manga and the fall of poetry, musical comedy or the western teach us about the formation of political culture? Are there persisting human qualities that make works accessible across times and cultures? What accounts for lasting success when new forms arise?

Dealing with complexity, a second conference theme, is essential to literature, film and plays, which must abstract from the richness of the world we inhabit and create a microcosm that is yet complex enough to be a believable whole. Fantasy represents an especially challenging arena in which to consider the question of complexity, for it must present us with a world that is both very much not our own and yet comprehensible. At the same time, many fantasy worlds are known for being reflections on the real world, setting up a highly complex dialectic between imagination and reality.

A further source of complexity in the study of literature and film relates directly to a problem the social sciences must also grapple with: how do we understand the relationship between the work studied and the one studying it? Does literature really speak to us across time and space, or do we just think it does by the assumptions we bring to it? Panels that examine one work from a variety of perspectives or a variety of works that involve similar plots, characters, and themes might address this complexity.

Finally, we should look at our own sub-discipline in relationship to the wider profession and world. Panels might attempt to strengthen ties with political philosophy and American politics, or investigate how our interests overlap with those of comparativists, students of international relations, or even those who teach literature and criticism in English departments. Can we enter into dialogue with the creators of the works we study? To what extent can the study of politics through literature, film and popular culture serve to engage and educate citizens who are "turned off" politics by political junkies and politicians?