Remembering “the magic of the B.B.C. box” long after he had left for London, George Lamming described the event of a Caribbean Voices broadcast: “West Indian writers would meet in the same house and listen to these programmes,” absorbing “the curriculum for a serious all-night argument” and then wrangling “among themselves and against the absent English critic.” With venues for print often vanishingly small, radio assumed an outsized importance for postcolonial writers in the middle of the twentieth century, offering larger audiences, steadier remuneration, and programming with a generative mix of stories, poems, drama, and criticism. How did wireless outlets, and networks, shape literatures emerging from the protracted end of European empires?

Cary Nelson’s stance on archival work in his 1989 book Repression and Recovery applies to the intimate, frustrating, and rewarding practice of archival research’s potential to offer literary scholars the chance to rehabilitate both author and text. He states, “For texts previously ignored or belittled, our greatest appreciative act may be to give them fresh opportunities for an influential life. That discourse can include new constructions of the cultural work those texts may have done in their own time” (14). When archival research uncovers voices that showcase underrepresented voices, the outcome is tremendous in how it results in new ways of reading the past in contemporary culture. But what about historically problematic constructions?

The Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA) Convention will be held in Boston March 7-10 2024.

We are soliciting papers for our roundtable, entitled "Mentoring Scholars of Color." The roundtable was very popular at last year's session, and we want to resume conversations about best practices for mentoring diverse scholars today. The goal is to create a safe space for scholars of color to meet and discuss the challenges and opportunities in the area of mentorship among scholars of color.

Dear Language Educators and Researchers, We hope this message finds you well. We are thrilled to announce two exciting panels at the upcoming NeMLA Convention 2024 in Boston, chaired by two colleagues from the University of Chicago.

This roundtable examines the re-location of Shakespeare in America from the angle of regional production, performance, pedagogy, culture, and impact with a focus on race, class, gender, history, and culture.

War Literature and Trauma (CEA 3/21/24–3/23/24)

deadline for submissions: 

November 1, 2023

full name / name of organization: 

College English Association (CEA)

contact email for questions:

andrea.vannort@afacademy.af.edu

Subject: Call for Papers: War Literature and Trauma at CEA 2024

Call for Papers, War Literature and Trauma at CEA 2024

March 21-23, 2024 | Atlanta, GA

Through stories, knowledge and culture within and between communities is passed from generation to generation. Oral narratives were used and are still used to share rituals, customs, and traditions of a community. The truths within Indigenous communities are reflected and grounded within their stories and Elders play a key role in passing knowledge. They “mentor and provide support and have systematically gathered wisdom, histories, skills, and expertise in cultural knowledge” (Iseke 561). Their stories shape identity and empower Indigenous communities and peoples. Stories indicate beliefs, attitudes, and perceptions of people.

We welcome proposals that think through, reflect upon, and reconsider the significance of Aspirations in the pasts, presents, and futures of the United States. Aspirational ideals and beliefs have always been at the crux of the United States’ national ethos, but they have also evolved during the course of history. Inviting colleagues to consider a range of temporal, spatial, and performative aspects of aspirations, we posethe following questions:

CFP:Class Participation: A Must or a Bonus?

NeMLA Annual Convention, Boston, MA, March 7-10, 2024

Submission Deadline: September 30, 2023 through the NeMLA portal: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/20518

Creating Camelot(s): The Idea of Community in Arthurian Texts (virtual)

Sponsored by Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of Britain and International Arthurian Society, North American Branch (IAS/NAB)

Organizers: Michael A. Torregrossa and Joseph M. Sullivan

Call for Papers - Please Submit Proposals by 15 September 2023

59th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan)

Hybrid event: Thursday, 9 May, through Saturday, 11 May, 2024

Session Objective

Creating Camelot(s): The Idea of Community in Arthurian Texts (virtual) 

In the celebrated ‘The Henry Myers Lecture,’ Bruno Latour critiques, what Elizabeth de Freites and Sarah E. Truman succinctly describe in their paper ‘Science fiction and science dis/trust: Thinking with Bruno Latour’s Gaia and Liu Cixin’s ‘The Three-body Problem’’ (published in Rhizomes Cultural Studies in Emerging Knowledge) as “shifting the focus from ‘trusting that a particular scientific claim is true’ towards an engagement with Gaia (earth) where scientists encounter and form alliances with agencies alive with trickster motive” (Latour, B., 2018. Down to Earth. Oxford: Polity Press).

Speculative Fiction (SF) creators regularly imagine worlds in precipitous decline where the privileged few live in a safe, prosperous, hazard-free enclave from which surplus subaltern populations are excluded. What do these stories of safety for the few while the “surplus” rot outside or join a captive servant class status tell us about our own concepts of borders, citizenship, and expendability? Presenters are invited to engage with one or more texts using cultural studies, postcolonial theory, or other relevant analytic tool to analyze how gated communities function in the SF canon or the real world.

In May 2023, Republican Senator Tommy Tuberville replied, “Well, they call them that. I call them Americans,” when asked by Richard Banks, a radio host for WBHM in Alabama, if he believed white nationalists should be allowed in the U.S. military. Tuberville, who later said “I look at a white nationalists [sic] as a Trump Republican,” also later slightly recanted, stating that, “We agree that we should not be characterizing Trump supporters as white nationalists.” However, Tuberville’s initial comments and impulses create and reinforce a corollary that to be American is to be white.

Call for Book Chapters

 Jayanta Mahapatra: Modern Critical Views

We invite scholars, researchers, and literary enthusiasts to contribute to the upcoming edited book Jayanta Mahapatra: Modern Critical Viewsthat aims to delve into the multifaceted dimensions of the celebrated poet, Jayanta Mahapatra. As one of India's foremost poets, Mahapatra's work has left an indelible mark on the landscape of contemporary Indian poetry. This volume intends to critically explore his poetic corpus, shedding light on its thematic richness, artistic innovations, and its relevance in the larger literary discourse.