Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky

The Department of English and American Studies at Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra, Slovakia, invites you to contribute papers to the annual Literary Colloquium, this time on the topic: Good and Evil in Literature

The hybrid event will take place on 18-19 November 2026.
The online part of the event will take place via Zoom and will be recorded and later published on the department’s Youtube channel later.

We invite you to submit proposals for talks/presentations exploring the representation of good and evil in literary works and their adaptations, which may include, but are not limited to, the following ideas:

The assessment of the kinds of good and evil depicted by selected authors and literary works from the perspective of various philosophical or theological theories (e.g. Manichean, Augustinian , Nietzschean, …)
The nature of good and evil in fictional worlds
A moral analysis of concrete characters on either side of the good—evil spectrum
Are the “good guys” really good and the “bad guys” really bad?
The good—evil power struggle and balance
The apparent impossibility of redemption for some evil characters

The length of the papers should be about 20-30 minutes.

Deadline for submissions: 15 October 2026

Submission link: https://forms.gle/nwWfhNSswhskQgzH8

We warmly welcome both in-person and online participation — international scholars and researchers who are unable to travel are encouraged to join the event virtually.

There is no participation fee for the event.

However, we do not provide any funding for travel, therefore in-person participation is advised primarily for researchers from Slovakia who can attend on their own terms.

Selected papers presented at the colloquium can be submitted for consideration for publication in the peer-reviewed journal Ars Aeterna.

The event is organised with the support of the projects VEGA 1/0236/26 Axiological Actualizations and Reconfigurations in Contemporary Mythopoetic Narratives and KEGA 015UKF-4/2026 Developing Literary Competence in the Context of Intercultural Cooperation.