CALL FOR PAPERS: Responding to Molly in Irish Literature

For the South Central Modern Language Association Annual Conference
SCMLA Annual Conference, October 26th-28th, 2006
Radisson Plaza Hotel, October 26-28, 2006

I am seeking papers for a panel at the 2006 South Central Modern Language
Association (SCMLA in Fort Worth) that explore the influence that Molly's
monologue has had on contemporary Irish writers. The title for this panel is
"Responding to Molly: How Have Irish Writer's Answered Molly Bloom's
Monologue?" Proposals might address some of the following concerns: how
have contemporary Irish writers influenced current Irish aesthetics? To what
extent has Irish feminism in prose or poetry undergone radicalization since
the publication of Ulysses? How did the writing practices of earlier Irish
women writers anticipate shifts in modern or contemporary Irish aesthetics?
To what extent do post-Ulysses Irish works reveal ruptures in the Irish
identity? Possible authors and texts may include Edna O'Brien's The Country
Girls where Cait commits suicide and Down by the River where Mary survives
incest; Beckett's Celia who is a prostitute; and William Trevor's Felicia's
Journey where Felicia narrowly escapes being murdered and is voiceless on a
park bench when the novel concludes. In Roddy Doyle's The Woman Who Walked
Into Doors spousal abuse is a major issue and it is Paula's question to
herself in the emergency room, "Ask me! Ask me!" where she finally overcomes
her reticence and begins to seek help. Mary Lavin's stories, such as
"Sarah," offer much in the broadest sense of the definition; and on the
other end of the spectrum there is Eavan Boland's "Achill Woman's"
conclusion: "There are things more shocking than Molly's frank monologue on
the world and sex…"

Send proposals of 500 suitable for a 20 minute presentation to:

Danizete Martínez
Department of English
MS032170
University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-0001

Proposals may also be sent electronically to: danizete_at_unm.edu

Deadline for consideration is February 10th, 2006

Danizete Martínez
Department of English
University of New Mexico

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Received on Mon Jan 02 2006 - 07:15:03 EST