Initial deadline for abstracts: 3/31/06=20
Initial deadline for submissions: 9/30/06=20

Initial Call for Papers for a proposed volume on =20
Edith Wharton and the Material Cultures of the Book.=20
Wharton=E2=80=99s fascination with the printed and bound volume predated he=
r own=20
literacy, and this first call for papers invites scholars to scrutinise clo=
sely=20
the relationship between the material production and dissemination of Whart=
on=E2=80=99
s books and her creative and financial ambitions. To what extent were Whart=
on
=E2=80=99s authorial goals and practices shaped by an understanding of the=20=
material=20
cultures of the book in the period c.1890-1930? Did her choice of publisher=
s=20
and publication contexts demonstrate an adept awareness of the nature of=20
cultural capital in a market economy? Did contemporary debates over the val=
ue of=20
literature =20
Contributors are encouraged to interpret the idea of the material culture o=
f=20
the book as widely as they wish, drawing upon research from sociology,=20
economic and social history, literary theory, bibliography, book history,=20
philosophy and anthropology. I would particularly welcome contributors seek=
ing to=20
examine Wharton=E2=80=99s publication, production, dissemination and place=20=
in book=20
history and material culture outside of an American context. Some topics th=
at you=20
might wish to discuss include:=20
    * Wharton=E2=80=99s relationship with her publishers in the USA, UK,=
 France=20
and elsewhere=20
    * The economics of the book trade and its impact on Wharton=E2=80=99s=
 writing=20
    * Wharton and her literary agents=20
    * The representation of the book as =E2=80=98material culture=E2=80=
=99 in Wharton=E2=80=99s=20
fiction=20
    * The production and distribution of Wharton=E2=80=99s books (especia=
lly=20
during WW1)=20
    * Wharton=E2=80=99s libraries, real and fictional=20
    * Propaganda and the material and moral utility (or economy) of the=20
book=20
    * Wharton=E2=80=99s own understanding of the material culture of the=20=
book=20
vis-=C3=A0-vis visual art, music, drama or film=20
    * Contemporary theories (from economics, politics and philosophy) of=20
the material value of literature that impinged upon Wharton and her writing=
=20
    * Contingent serialisation vs. the definitive volume: a material or=20
immaterial distinction?=20
    * Expatriation vs. domesticity: the material freight of literature=20
    * Wharton=E2=80=99s bibliophilia: material or sentimental?=20
    * When is a book a book? Material culture, =E2=80=98dry goods=E2=80=
=99 and the idea=20
of the book in the American =E2=80=98Gilded Age=E2=80=99 and after=20
    * Recent theoretical work by Bourdieu, Chartier, Darnton etc and its=20
relevance to Wharton scholarship=20
    * Advertising Wharton=E2=80=99s books=20
    * Material culture and the mass market for fiction: elite vs. popular=
=20
consumption patterns=20
    * Wharton=E2=80=99s sensitivity over the presentation (binding, paper=
,=20
punctuation etc) of her books
Please register your interest in this project by sending an abstract of=20
c.500 words and a brief CV by the deadline of 31 March 2006 to the editor,=20=
Dr=20
Shafquat Towheed at _SSTowheed_at_aol.com_ (mailto:SSTowheed_at_aol.com) . Accept=
ed=20
contributors will have until 30 September 2006 to submit their manuscripts,=
=20
which should ordinarily be c.7000-8500 words in length. If you wish to disc=
uss=20
this project, feel free to contact me.=20
Dr Shafquat Towheed, Institute of English Studies, University of London=20
E-mail: _SSTowheed_at_aol.com_ (mailto:SSTowheed_at_aol.com) =20

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Received on Fri Sep 16 2005 - 11:12:29 EDT