cfp.english.upenn.edu

This conference invites papers that explore the representation of dialect in literary texts. We welcome papers from across different periods, different genres and different geographical locations. Questions that might be addressed include, but are not restricted to:

• How do readers respond to dialect representation?
• Can writers challenge the hierarchical relationship between ‘the standard language’ and ‘dialect’?
• Which critical theories and linguistic frameworks are appropriate for the interpretation of dialect in literary texts?
• What role does metalanguage play in the literary representation of dialect?
• To what extent and in what ways is ‘authenticity’ a useful concept?
• What different literary histories do dialects have?
• Which literary figures have been particularly influential in developing traditions of dialect representation?
• How important is genre in understanding dialect representation?

We welcome papers that deal with dialect in languages other than English, but would ask that all papers be presented in English.

This conference is being held to coincide with the forthcoming ‘South Yorkshire Voices’ exhibition at Sheffield University Western Bank Library. The conference will open on the evening of Wednesday 10th July with a public poetry reading and discussion by Ian McMillan, and will close on the evening of Friday 12th July with a poetry workshop led by Peter and Ann Sansom, directors of The Poetry Business, which publishes The North poetry magazine. Our plenary academic speaker will be Dr Mark Sebba, who has written widely on pidgin and creole languages, and on the sociolinguistics of orthography.

Please submit abstracts of 250 words to j.hodson@sheffield.ac.uk by Friday 1st March 2013.