cfp.english.upenn.edu

NEW DEADLINE: June 20, 2009

In keeping with SAMLA’s theme for this year (Human Rights and the Humanities) this panel aims to examine the ways in which the scrutinizing view of the public eye impacts the construction of a character’s identity in the work of William Faulkner. For example, in her book Race, Ethnicity and Sexuality (2003), Joane Nagel argues that race is a social construction rather than an inherent aspect of identity and writes that racial divisions are created in order to “form a barrier to hold some people in and keep others out, to define who is pure and who is impure, to shape our view of ourselves and others.” How do racial divisions—or other socially constructed divisions, such as sexuality, nationality, ethnicity, etc.—impact relationships within a society? How does such an impact dictate the way in which a person is regarded/treated by the public in question? What does this suggest about Faulkner’s view of human rights? Are these rights bestowed upon an individual by their community, or are they inherent but encroached upon via that community’s scrutinizing eye? NEW DEADLINE for 250-word abstracts, full contact information, and requests for A/V equipment is June 20. Send electronically to Victoria.M.Bryan@gmail.com.