cfp.english.upenn.edu

SAMLA Conference 2012, Durham, North Carolina, Nov. 9-11
Southeastern Renaissance Conference (SRC) [Affiliated Group]
Chair: Dan Mills, Clayton State University (stephenmills@clayton.edu)
Secretary: Dr. Kerri Allen, Dalton State College (klallen@daltonstate.edu)
Title: The Accidental Tourist and Early Modern Utopias

From its inception with Thomas More's seminal text, early modern Utopian literature closely mirrored the genre of travel writing, which became more and more common as trans-Atlantic exploration escalated. But Utopian literature has traditionally depicted "idealized" societies, sometimes through the accidental discovery of an island nation. This panel wishes to understand the implications of the relationship between the intersections of these three phenomena: trans-Atlantic exploration, utopian literature, and travel writing. How do the three inform each other and how do they exclude each other? What are the implications of the accidental discovery of so many early modern utopias? Proposals for papers addressing any aspect of utopian literature, travel writing, and early modern exploration are also welcome.
The conference will take place at the Sheraton Imperial Hotel and Convention Center in Durham, North Carolina, on November 9-11, 2012.

UPDATE: A publisher has expressed interest in printing a collection of essays from this panel.

Please submit proposals of no more than 250 words to stephenmills@mail.clayton.edu by May 30, 2012.