cfp.english.upenn.edu

44th Annual Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
March 21-24, 2013
Boston, Massachusetts
Host Institution: Tufts University

This panel seeks papers that explore the intersection of activism and art in 19th fiction by women. Scholars have researched extensively Stowe’s Uncle’s Tom Cabin; however, the exciting tradition of which it is a part—creative literature in the service of reform—has been largely overlooked. Papers will likely explore questions such as how did popular literature contribute to the debate over temperance, labor, education, suffrage, and other reform movements? What creative tactics of literary texts allowed them to reach a wider audience? How did women use literature to enter the public debate, challenge the constructs of womanhood, and alter America? Please send 250 word abstracts and brief biographical statement to Amy Easton-Flake aeastonflake@live.com

Deadline: September 30, 2012