cfp.english.upenn.edu

Previously unpublished critical essays are being sought for a new volume tentatively entitled The Final Crossing: Death and Dying in Literature. Since the publication of Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross’s landmark study On Death and Dying (1969), thanatology has attracted keen attention from various fields of study, including psychology, psychiatry, sociology, gerontology, and medical ethics. Interestingly, thanatologists in those areas frequently turn to literature in their study of death and the phenomena and practices related to it. Considering that death and dying is a prominent theme, motif, and symbol in world literature, it is no wonder that they find literary works resourceful. The Final Crossing aims to collect scholarly essays on death and dying in literature for those who might be interested in this fundamental but ignored topic in literary studies.

The essays will be grouped in 3-5 thematic categories, such as “The Way We Die,” “Death and Spirituality,” “Death and Ethical Issues,” “Those Left Behind,” and “Death and Dying in Postmodernism.” (Section titles will be modified based on the types of submitted essays.)

Possible topics include but are not limited to:
*Death as an expression of personal experience
*Death as a reflection of cultural meanings or symbols
*Death as a literary device
*Death and Postmodernism

We welcome submissions from both literary scholars and nonliterary academics who have some background in literature and the humanities. To express interest and request more detailed information, please e-mail John J. Han at hanjn_at_mobap.edu. Abstracts of proposed essays (500 words) and a brief professional vita should be submitted as Word attachments by April 1, 2012. Deadline for completed essays of 15-20 pages is November 1, 2012. We plan to finish editing accepted submissions by April 1, 2013. An academic publisher in Amsterdam responded positively to our proposal and is willing to consider the entire manuscript.

John J. Han, Ph.D.
Professor of English and Creative Writing
Missouri Baptist University
St. Louis, MO 63141-8660
(314) 392-2311
hanjn_at_mobap.edu

C. Clark Triplett, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President for Graduate Studies and Academic Program Review
Professor of Psychology and Sociology
Missouri Baptist University
St. Louis, MO 63141-8660
(314) 392-2221
triplett_at_mobap.edu