12th Annual Southwest Graduate English Symposium
Arizona State University – February 24-26, 2006
(Re)Markable Identities: Confronting, Corrupting, and Conflating Cultural
Discourses

Panel: Popular Literature and Academic Attention

The tales that we love: A Wrinkle in Time, The Lord of the Rings, The
Chronicles of Narnia, The Hitchhiker's Guide. And then, some that we're not
so sure about: The da Vinci Code, Bridget Jones' Diary, anything written by
Anne Rice. And then, there are some books that maybe we just haven't heard
about yet, like Jasper Fforde's "Thursday Next" novels. But there is no
doubt—the line between "high literature" and "low fiction" is blurring as
academia increasingly acknowledges popular fiction and its force in the
literary landscape.

This panel seeks paper and presentation proposals that engage questions of
popular literature in graduate studies, such as:
- what defines "high culture" from "popular literature"?
- is there a place for popular literature within graduate work, from classes
to theses to dissertations?
- is there marketability for popular literature studies?
- what artistic license is available for popular writers to re-create
classics (such as Dan Brown's The da Vinci Code or Jasper Fforde's The Eyre
Affair)?
- how does popular literature confront, corrupt, or conflate the cultural
discourses of academic study?

Paper abstracts should be no more than 350 words and submitted by November
30, 2005. Please include home and office numbers, complete mailing address,
e-mail address, professional affiliation, and AV requirements with your
submission. Direct questions or submissions to Cynthia Calhoun,
cynthia.knight_at_asu.edu.

         ==========================================================
              From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
                        CFP_at_english.upenn.edu
                         Full Information at
                     http://cfp.english.upenn.edu
         or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu
         ==========================================================
Received on Wed Nov 16 2005 - 10:26:29 EST