cfp.english.upenn.edu

From the pamphleteers of the English Civil War to the library of ‘Occupy Wall Street’, the image of the book has often been a central element of political propaganda. But in what ways have cultures of books and reading shaped political action and ideologies? Or, conversely, how has politics affected the form and understanding of texts?

We invite paper proposals relating to the theme of ‘Politics and the Power of Print’, from any historical period or geographical location, and relating to movements across the ideological spectrum.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Political publishing, distribution and retailing networks
The translation and editing of political texts
Political libraries and reading groups, both physical and digital
Reading and local politics
Censorship and the freedom of the press
Political journals and newspapers
Pamphlets, leaflets and political ephemera
The occupational and industrial politics of printing/publishing
Politics and the novel
The iconography of the book/printing press in political communication

The Study Day will take place at the historic Chetham’s Library, Manchester, where Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx gathered material on history and political economy in the 1840s.

Please send proposals of no more than 300 words to Catherine Feely at cathfeely@gmail.com by 2nd October 2012.

Dr Catherine Armstrong and Dr Catherine Feely, Study Day Organisers.