Call for Papers

J.R.R. Tolkien

Deadline for Submission 1 March 2004

Guest Editor: Shaun Hughes

The Editors of Modern Fiction Studies seek theoretically informed and
historically contextualized essays on any aspects of Tolkien's fiction
(including the posthumous legendarium), as well as filmic representations of
his fiction.

This issue will examine whether postmodern and postcolonial theory better
position us to come to terms with a body of fiction that refuses to go away
and that may even be more influential than it was fifty years ago. Despite
unabated popular interest in fantasy literature, literary critics still
frequently find it difficult to take such work seriously except perhaps
under the somewhat dismissive rubric of "popular culture" or
"trivialliteratur." Although Tolkien was pointedly excluded from her
analysis, Rosemary Jackson has made an impressive case for the functioning
of the Fantastic as a subversive counter-hegemonic genre. Certainly the
genre of "magical realism" has a respected place in theorizing postcolonial
literatures, but where does the fiction of Tolkien fit in this schema?

Topics might include Tolkien's relation to canonical modernism or the way a
particular theoretical model opens Tolkien's fiction in new ways;
discussions of race, gender/sexuality or class are particularly welcomed.

Articles may be 20-30 pages in length and should follow the MLA Style Manual
for internal citation and Works Cited. For the sake of consistency, we ask
that you cite the following editions:

Lord of the Rings. 2nd ed. Corr. Douglas A. Anderson. 3 vols. 1987, 1994 or
2002 editions. (Cite by Book and Chapter number.)

Silmarillion. 2nd ed. Ed. Christopher Tolkien. 1999/2001

The Hobbit. 4th ed., 1975, or The Annotated Hobbit. Revised edition. Ed.
Douglas A. Anderson, 2002.

Please submit two copies of your essay to The Editors, MFS, Department of
English, Purdue University, 500 Oval Dr., West Lafayette, IN 47907-2038.
Queries should be directed to Shaun Hughes (sfdh_at_omni.cc.purdue.edu).

         ===============================================
         From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
                      CFP_at_english.upenn.edu
                       Full Information at
                http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/
          or write Erika Lin: elin_at_english.upenn.edu
         ===============================================
Received on Thu Jun 05 2003 - 20:09:55 EDT