CHARLES DICKENS: BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, DEATHS; deadline for abstracts MAY 15, 2012, CONFERENCE OCTOBER 19-20, 2012

full name / name of organization: 
DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY, THESSALONIKI, GREECE AND DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH, BILKENT UNIVERSITY, ANKARA, TURKEY

CALL FOR PAPERS

CONFERENCE TO BE HELD AT THE ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI, GREECE, OCTOBER 19-20, 2012

To be organized by the Department of English, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki and The Department of English Language and Literature, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey.

Co-organizers: Valerie Kennedy (Bilkent) and Katerina Kitsi (Thessaloniki)

CHARLES DICKENS: BIRTHS, MARRIAGES, DEATHS

In Dickens's bicentenary year we wish to invite proposals for papers on crucial thresholds, moments of transition, and life cycles as these are represented, questioned or complicated in Dickens's writings. We invite contributions that explore these topics, including but not limited to papers which focus on the following:
1) Births (birth rituals; births of boys vs. birth of girls; legitimacy and illegitimacy; birth and class identity vs. innate identity);
2) Marriages (marriage and money; marriage and love; sadistic and masochistic marriages; marriage and theatrical performance);
3) Deaths (death by murder; death by drowning or 'accident'); funerals and theatrical performance; death and gender and social class).

Guest speakers:
Michael Hollington
One other (to be announced)

Please send an abstract of 250 words to both Valerie Kennedy (kennedy@bilkent.edu.tr) and Katerina Kitsi (katkit@auth.gr) by May 15th 2012.