cfp.english.upenn.edu

From Lavinia’s rape and dismemberment in Titus Andronicus to the
decimation of villains in The Faerie Queene, early modern texts are rife with acts of spectacular violence in part because of the central role they play in constituting and contesting early modern masculinity. Similarly, modern popular culture has proliferated and valorized images of violent masculinity, both in adaptations of early modern works (e.g. Hamlet and The Revenger's Tragedy) and in later models of heroism (e.g. the Terminator films, superhero comics). This panel welcomes papers considering historical, theoretical, literary and/or aesthetic
aspects of violent masculinity, then and now. How do displays of
violence construct masculinity? Trouble it? To what extent and in what ways is the spectacularity of violence significant in forming masculinity? How do modern representations of violence perpetuate, transform, and/or challenge early modern models of masculinity?

Please send paper abstracts of 250-500 words to Catherine Thomas, College of Charleston at ThomasC@cofc.edu or Jennifer Feather, UNC-Greensboro at J_FEATHE@uncg.edu by MAY 21, 2010