American Literature Association
35th Annual Conference
May 23-26, 2024
Chicago, IL

Religious (In)tolerance and Geopolitics in American Literature

This panel seeks to offer a robust and timely discussion about the relationship between religious intolerance and American literature. We are especially interested in papers attuned to transnational and geopolitical frameworks, given the global contexts impacting the resurgence of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia in contemporary U.S. culture. While scholars have long noted how American literature has shaped nativist discourses and shifting conceptions of religious difference within the U.S., they have less often attended to the geopolitical contexts underlying these discourses. And yet, our current moment calls us to this work. In this spirit, our panel asks: how have geopolitical events influenced imaginings of religious “others” within the United States? How have U.S. literary representations of religious difference, pluralism, and (in)tolerance shaped discourses on global politics? And more broadly speaking, how has American literature affirmed and/or challenged the notion of religious “tolerance” in and outside of the U.S.? This panel invites papers from across any period of American literature.

Those interested are asked to submit an abstract of no more than 200-300 words and a brief bio of no more than 100 words to anamaria.clawson@snc.edu by January 15.