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The University of Sidney launched a very interesting call for papers on links between verbal and visual communication.Here it is:Word and Image, East and West28-29 October 2011University of SydneyIn 1991 Mieke Bal defended the verbal and textual aspects of visual artefacts, arguing that a new cultural paradigm exists based on the assumption that “the culture in which works of art and literature emerge and function does not impose a strict distinction between the verbal and the visual domain. In cultural life the two domains are constantly intertwined” (“Reading Rembrandt”, 1991, p. 5).   In the last twenty years the relationship between the visual and the verbal has become a key issue in the humanities in general and, in particular, in the creation of new inter-, multi- or transdisciplinary areas of study. Reaction to the growing presence of images in contemporary culture has, thus, led to a flourishing of publications, conferences and academic courses on the varied interactions between text and image. Yet, a comparative investigation on the way the East and West perceive the interrelation between the visual and the textual still needs particular attention.The purpose of the symposium is to bring together scholars and researchers from different backgrounds (historical, literary, theoretical or philosophical) in order to discuss and compare the mutual interdependence of words and images, the mixed mediality of the visual and the verbal, and the way they have been interlacing in different geographical and cultural areas, from Europe and the US to the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region, throughout the years.Contributions are invited, but not limited to:- literature and painting- iconography and narrative- visual poetry- writing and photography- narrative and maps- mixed-media forms and intermedia texts- graffitiDiscussions are therefore encouraged on the different modalities one medium has been included in the other in the Western and Eastern cultures, as well as the way the interaction of word and image has contributed to challenge the East/West binary. Contributions are invited to discuss issues of:- transcription- juxtaposition- transposition and translation- interference- ekphrasisWe invite proposals for twenty-minute papers in English. Please submit a 500-word abstract and include name, university affiliation, as well as a short paragraph with biographical information by 30 May 2011. Selected contributions will be included in a 2012 Special Issue of the international refereed journal Literature &#38; Aesthetics. Essays (in English) for the issue will be commissioned by 15 November 2011. Commissioned essays are due no later than 1 March 2012.Enquiries and proposals should be addressed to:   Giorgia Alù: giorgia.alu@sydney.edu.au Francesco Borghesi: francesco.borghesi@sydney.edu.au