cfp.english.upenn.edu

C19: The Society of Nineteenth-Century Americanists
May 20-23, 2010 at Penn State University

In many college literature courses, the primary text is an anthology of some kind. Anthologies, with their biographical and historical introductions, can condition and influence the way that our students are introduced to authors. Considering the prominence of anthologies in the modern classroom, a closer look at their rhetoric and pedagogical implications is overdue. This panel seeks to examine the ways that modern anthologies present and edit 19th Century American female authors in this age of recovery and re-reading. Possible topics for discussion include, but are not limited to, the following:

-The value of anthologies in the classroom, especially in regard to particular female authors.
-A comparison of the organization and editing choices regarding the same author from two or more anthologies
-Pros and cons of separate anthologies based on race, gender, region, etc…
-Recovery vs. coverage: do major anthologies “skirt” the issues?
-Differences between traditional anthologies and sites like Project Gutenberg

Please submit one page abstracts electronically by 9/21/09. If there is sufficient interest, a panel will be submitted by the C19 deadline of 9/30. C19 will notify participants by 12/15.