cfp.english.upenn.edu

Anglo-Saxon Studies Colloquium Graduate Conference
University of Toronto

Crises of Categorization
12 February 2011

Marjorie Garber defines crises of categorization as the “failure of definitional distinction, a borderline that becomes permeable, that permits of crossings from one (apparently distinct) category to another”, in her work on the challenge of defining transvestism. This recognition of the permeability of boundaries is particularly useful in thinking through issues in the history and literature of Anglo-Saxon England. For the 2011 ASSC Graduate Colloquium, we are seeking papers which interrogate Anglo-Saxon systems of categorization, both as they appear within the literature and historical documents of the period and in terms of modern popular and scholarly practices. In particular, the conference hopes to explore points of cultural anxiety about and resistance towards hegemonic practices of categorization.

Potential areas of investigation may include:

— Anglo-Saxon conceptions of time
— periodicity and historiography
— genre and stylistic practices
— negotiation of linguistic boundaries
— spatial discourse and practices
— representations of gender and sexuality

Please submit 250 word abstracts for 20-minute papers by 15 November 2010. Please include academic affiliation, e-mail address, street address, phone number, and audio-visual requirements. Abstracts may be sent to TorontoASSC@gmail.com.

— Peter Buchanan and Colleen Butler, conference organizers

Sponsored by: Centre for Medieval Studies, Trinity College