The objective of this round-table session is to explore, examine, and discuss, in a variety of manners, particular literary protagonists and antagonists in world literary cultures. What seems to be their intrigue? What empowers them, or, perhaps, who do they empower? Consideration of and elaboration on points of view, themes, idiosyncrasies, heroisms, actions, styles, diction, and purpose(s) will be important to ascertain and reveal in a deliberate, inspirational, thought-provoking, as well as insightful dialogue with, hopefully, a sharing of esoteric discoveries. Contemplate how and in what ways certain protagonists and antagonists across world literatures continue to have tremendous value or a long-lasting effect in their specific roles.

February 22-25, 2023

Albuquerque, NM

The Area Chair of the Cormac McCarthy Area of the SWPACA conference is seeking paper proposals on any aspect of the work of Cormac McCarthy, including novels, plays, and television and film scripts and adaptations.  We invite presentations about all facets of McCarthy’s work in forms ranging from critical essays to analyses employing recognized research methodologies. The chair also welcomes pre-formed panels, but will need submissions to be uploaded individually as required by the SWPACA. Paper presentations should be 15 minutes and should present an arguable thesis or develop a compelling question.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Editor: Dr Alice Equestri, University of Padua (alice.equestri@unipd.it)

Publisher: international academic press to be confirmed

Deadline for submitting chapter proposals (400 words): July 31, 2022
Notification of acceptance: September 1, 2022
Provisional deadline for essay submission (6000-8000 words): April 30, 2023

Papers are sought for a volume that critically examines – and advances our knowledge of – manifestations of intellectual disability in early modern English and European literature and culture (c. 1500-1700). The collection will be submitted to an international academic publisher.

Seeking abstracts for an edited collection of essays about life on the tenure track, especially for those working in the humanities and social sciences at non-R1 colleges and universities.

Print: Theories, Histories, and Futures

Comparative Literature Conference

February 23-25, 2023

University of South Carolina (Columbia)

The twenty-first century is lauded for the strides in progress that have encouraged the rights of individuals to flourish and succeed regardless of gender, creed, or race. Yet issues of disparity still abound relating to gender constructions and sexual orientations especially against the backdrop of ecological crisis that are plaguing the world. The myriad of challenges which include issues of gender representation, sexual orientation, climate and/or environmental challenges, and cultural difference have become topical within scholarly circles.

Dear Conradians/Colleagues/ Scholars/Academics

Game Studies has adopted a notion of genre that overcomes the “tension between ‘ludology’ and ‘narratology’... [by] “conceptualizing video games as operating in the interplay between these two taxonomies of genre” (Apperley 2006). That is, the consensus of the field is that game genres are a combination of both narrative and other forms of representation (e.g. Adventure, Western, or Sci-Fi stories and/or motifs) and formal, ludic structures (e.g  cooperative or competitive, role-playing, shooting, platforming). 

 James Baldwin’s presence in American culture and political history follows a trajectory that is perhaps unique in American letters, being the signature literary voice for two very different cultural moments: the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 60s and then—after a period of relative quiet—being taken up again six decades later as a prophetic precursor and guiding spirit for the larger Black Lives Matter movement.  Baldwin’s continuing relevance for our discourse and disputation about race, nationhood, masculinity and sexuality is now all but taken for granted.  His voice helps us navigate the thicket of cultural politics as we seek a world that is more just and more free than the one in which we live. 

Coming to Charlotte Brontë's 1847 novel, Jane Eyre, for the first time, one may be struck by its apparently forward-looking elements, ones that do not seem to line up with expectations for early Victorian novels. In terms of the novel's explorations of inner consciousness, one observer finds that Jane Eyre is a precursor of modernist authors such as Proust, Woolf, and Joyce. Furthermore, Jane's keen awareness of women's equality with men in terms of the right to education, access to the wider world, and happiness in a relationship has distinctly feminist overtones. But may Jane Eyre be classified as a modernist and feminist work of literature?

The Cinematic Codes Review is in need of a regular film reviewer(s). The reviewer has complete freedom to choose the films from past or present that they want to review. They can choose to do in-depth review essays that analyze one or two films seperately or comparatively, or six or so short surface reviews of a few films or series that they enjoyed watching. Reviews should be illustrated with screen-shots from the films you are describing. Non-regular scholarly essays from academics and articles about filmmaking from those inside the film industry are also warmy invited. CCR releases three issues per year, and a set of reviews is included in each issue. If more than one reviewer volunteers, reviewers can split the work.

NeMLA 2023: Niagara Falls, NY. March 23-26, 2023.

As we continue to transition our daily lives “back to normal”—or rather to our understanding of “normal” from a pre-pandemic perspective—how do we negotiate the lessons learned during the pandemic? Quarantine, lockdown, self-isolation, social distancing, and the many other necessary health measures we have taken, currently take, and may continue to take, have forced a reconsideration of how we work and how we teach. What are our key pedagogical takeaways to help build and foster resiliency during these times?

We are trying to put together a panel proposal for the SCMS conference from April 12-15, 2023, in Denver. We are looking to supplement the papers we have already gathered with one or two more that deal with queer nostalgia/temporality in film/media. Please send an abstract of no more than 2500 characters and a bio (500 characters) to mstekl@stanford.edu and jennyme@stanford.edu. 

Diverse African literary works portray the experiences of African characters in the United States and other Western nations. Such works include Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie's Americanah, Imbolo Mbue's Behold the Dreamers, and NoViolet Bulawayo's We Need New Names. What do such portrayals tell us about imagined ideas of Western opportunity and promise? What do these types of narratives reveal about shared and divergent outlooks and lifestyles in African and Western communities? What different kinds of political and gender-based experiences are dramatized in these works, and what are the similarities and differences between the views of such experiences by African and Western characters?