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The fourth annual University of Wisconsin-Madison Literature Conference (MadLit) invites paper
proposals for this year’s topic, “Sex, Lies and Literature.”

In the opening chapter to his recent book, After Theory, Terry Eagleton claims, “What is sexy…is
sex.” Eagleton reminds us that even the most cutting-edge look to the future of theory can, and
should, involve a return to the essentials of the human condition. We wish to take a
comprehensive view of our field that encompasses both our past and future, and interrogate the
concepts: sex, truth, and the text.

This three-day graduate student conference is designed to investigate how literature engages
with notions of sexuality, gender, persuasion, rhetoric, fiction, and truth-value.

This year’s keynote speaker will be Eric Rothstein, Edgar W. Lacy Professor Emeritus at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison.

We seek proposals for 15-20 min. presentations and three-person panels on any aspect of “Sex,
Lies, and Literature.” Possible topics include:

o Truth and subjectivity
o Rhetoric
o Gender
o Sexuality and sexual identity
o Sexualized bodies
o Gendering texts
o Authorial presence
o Fictionality
o Ethics of literary studies
o Conceptions of “truth”
o The practice of lying

Please submit a 250-word abstract to Kevin Boettcher at kboettcher_at_wisc.edu by January 5th,
2008. We will announce accepted papers by January 31.

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Received on Thu Nov 29 2007 - 13:19:10 EST