CFP: Autobiography and the Body (9/15/05; NEMLA, 3/2/06-3/5/06)
Autobiography and the Body
We are seeking papers that will focus on the role of the body in autobiography for a panel that will be held at the Northeast MLA Conference March 2-5, 2006 in Philadelphia, PA. This panel will focus on the recent trend among feminist scholars to examine the prevalence of the body in the autobiographies of women and its noticeable absence in autobiographies of men. Often in women’s autobiography, the physical self contributes largely to the author’s own identity. For example, Lucy Grealy’s Autobiography of a Face equates her physical appearance with her definition of self, while more tradition autobiographies of men, such as Benjamin Franklin and Henry Adams, emphasize a life of intellectual accomplishments.