This CFP is for a special session of the 2006 Midwest Modern Language Association, entitled "Sonic Spectacles: From Event to Text." The conference will be held November 9-12, 2006 at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago.
 
 On the cusp of the twentieth century, Edison built two machines which transformed temporally and spatially contingent events into reproducible texts, the phonograph and the kinetoscope, and immediately began attempting
 to integrate the two. The success of this merger of sound and image—despite Edison's own failure—has made it nearly incomprehensible to consider the image without sound. This panel seeks to investigate the intersection of indexical recording technologies and the texts they produce and disseminate. Analogous ideas of performance, spectacle, "live-ness," and the real participate in many strands of contemporary cultural thought, including globalization, postmodern juxtaposition, and practices of subversion and resistance. We seek proposals (200-250 words) which will engage the matrix of questions surrounding the mobilization of these technologies in the contemporary world.
 
 Abstracts are due by Friday, April 21st and can be submitted either to myself or Ben Stork (stork014_at_umn.edu). Please include your institutional affiliation and e-mail address with your abstract.
 
Sincerely,

 Justin Schell
Ben Stork
Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society
University of Minnesota
                
         ==========================================================
              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 Apr 12 2006 - 10:25:13 EDT