Apologies for cross-posting
 

CFP: Lives Lived in Theory: Autocritical Interventions in Life Writing

What interests me today is not strictly called either 'literature'
or 'philosophy'... 'autobiography' is perhaps the least
inadequate name.

                                    --Jacques Derrida

For a proposed panel at the 2006 Congress, we invite papers that address aspects of critical theory as it is inscribed in autobiography, or papers which address autobiography as theory. We are particularly interested in papers that address memoir and
autobiographical narratives which arise from or speak to the theoretical foci of our discipline (Literary, Feminist, Queer, Psychoanalytical, Aesthetic, Postcolonial, Trauma, etc.) of Cultural Studies, broadly defined, or the experiences of
literary/cultural production. This might include autobiographical narrative as theory, theory as autobiography, accounts of the scholarly life, etc.

What interests us, here, then, are those autobiographies which are themselves of theoretical import to the discipline, or which develop insights into the theory which they frame or from which they arise. Typically, autobiographical discourse deals
explicitly with subject formation, but we are seeking papers which illuminate the ways in which "theory" and "autobiography" mediate these subjectivities. In what ways does the autobiographical narrative, mitigate, translate or inscribe the theoretical
concerns of the author. Sara Suleri's autobiographical memoir, Meatless Days, can be read productively as a dialogue with postcolonial theory, especially given her problematization of the identity category "postcolonial woman" in "Woman Skin Deep." Eve
Kosofsky Sedgwick's A Dialogue on Love is a profound narrative on the ways in which her academic life and theoretical investments mediate her experience of the body in extremis. Kate Bornstein's Gender Outlaw and My Gender Workbook are not only
autobiographical accounts of coming to terms with the inadequacies of gender theory, but by means of autobiography, they have made an inestimable contribution to the theory of Queer.

Please submit a proposal of no more than 500 words by November 15, 2005 to the email address below. A copy of the abstract and bio-note, must also be submitted. For electronic submissions, ACCUTE prefers MS Word attachments. Proposals should be
300-500 words in length, and should clearly indicate the originality or scholarly significance of the pro-posed paper, the line of argument, the principal texts the paper will speak to, and the relation of the paper to existing scholarship on the topic.
A "Works Cited" section must also be included.

Please Note: Submitters must be ACCUTE members in good standing. ACCUTE will not forward submissions to a second vettor unless submitters are current ACCUTE members.

Dr. Jennifer Gustar

Associate Professor, English and Women's Studies

University of British Columbia Okanagan

jennifer.gustar_at_ubc.ca <mailto:jennifer.gustar_at_ubc.ca>

Dr. Janet MacArthur

Associate Professor, English

University of British Columbia Okanagan

janet.macarthur_at_ubc.ca <mailto:Janet.macarthur_at_ubc.ca>

Jennifer J. Gustar, PhD
Associate Professor
English and Women's Studies
Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
University of British Columbia Okanagan
3333 University Way, Kelowna, BC, V1Y 1V7
office:(250) 807-9384; hm:(250)-762-9194
FAX: (250) 807-8543
jennifer.gustar_at_ubc.ca <mailto:jennifer.gustar_at_ubc.ca>
 

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Received on Thu Nov 03 2005 - 12:47:24 EST