Gerne Bending in the Brut (9/15: Kalamazoo, 8/14-17)
Since its publication in 1847 by Sir Frederic Madden, Lawman's Brut has challenged scholars with the question of genre, as various studies have tried to categorize it as a "chronicle," "epic," "romance" or as some other form of literature. Recent studies have also noted Lawman's blending of the features of different poetic and prose genres. Seeking to further this debate, this session asks for proposals that examine issues of genre in the Brut. It encourages papers that take on questions of how best to categorize Lawman's work and proposals that examine his use of the various genres and sub-genres available to him, including for example hagiography and the homily. It also welcomes proposals that offer new approaches to Lawman's poetic methods, including discussions of the interaction between oral and textual techniques. The session hopes to generate a discussion of how Lawman's work might best be considered generically. It may, finally, ask whether it is possible—or even necessary—to assign the Brut to a generic category.
Send brief abstracts by September 15, 2014, to:
__________________________
Kenneth Tiller
Professor of English
University of Virginia-Wise
Wise, VA 24293
(276) 376-4587
kjt9t@uvawise.edu