In her 1991 article “Scolding Brides and Bridling Scolds: Taming the Woman's Unruly Member,” Lynda Boose describes Kate’s final speech in The Taming of the Shrew as “a textual moment in which, in Althusserian terms, the play quite overtly ‘interpellates,’ or hails, its women viewers to an imaginary relationship with the ideology of the discourse being played out on stage.” This panel builds on Boose’s reading by examining texts that both assume an audience of women and interpellate the reader in a meaningful way. During a period when relatively few women were literate, texts that hail women had to find a way to reach their audience. Boose’s stage example is one way to attract women’s attention. Other texts might include pamphlets, conduct manuals, court records, and evidence of public speeches. Papers addressing multiple modes of interpellation and work engaging directly with theoretical lenses are welcome. 

Please send paper proposals to Kara McCabe (Emerson College) at karamccabe@gmail.com on or before 27 July 2026, including the panel title in your email. Applicants will be notified of acceptance by 31 July 2026.

In your document, please include the following:

-       Paper title

-       Abstract (fewer than 500 words)

-       Brief bio

-       Name, affiliation, preferred email address