Call for Papers=20
Emerson as Language Theorist=20
38th Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)=20
March 1-4, 2007=20
Baltimore, Maryland=20
This panel will examine the implications of Emerson=E2=80=99s theory of lan=
guage=20
articulated in his many essays, including Nature and =E2=80=9CThe Poet,=E2=
=80=9D as it stands at=20
the center of his philosophical, aesthetic and political thought. The =20
importance of this discussion rests on the fact that language, for Emerson,=20=
and =20
the act of signification itself becomes the figure for thinking through the=20=
=20
problems of social mediation and the question of individual selfhood. How d=
oes=20
Emerson=E2=80=99s understanding of language both reflect and come into conf=
lict with=20
the predominant theories of language in early nineteenth-century America? =20
How does language, in the figure of the poet=E2=80=99s word, the natural si=
gn or the=20
political symbol serve as a critical locus for inquiry and critique in Emer=
son=E2=80=99
s writing? What impact have Emerson=E2=80=99s ideas about language (living=20=
with it,=20
reading it and writing it) had on writers of his day and ours? =20
We encourage papers that explore specific intersections involving the=20
problems, possibilities, and paradoxes of language in Emerson=E2=80=99s wor=
k, as well as=20
works that create a productive dialogue between Emerson and other language=20
theorists (linguistic, psychoanalytic, philosophical, literary). Paper top=
ics=20
might include but are not limited to: Allegory and violence; language, lim=
it=20
and transcendence; language and pragmatism; selfhood and the rhetoric of=20
self-reliance; the poetics of metamorphosis; political symbolism; language=20=
and=20
fate; representations of the body; dualisms; sexual symbolism; private vers=
us=20
public languages; the problems of reading and authorship.=20
Please send inquiries or 250-500 word abstracts to Sean Kelly, =20
sjkelly_at_buffalo.edu, by September 15, 2006. Please indicate any special A/V=20=
 requirements.=20
Sean Kelly=20
University at Buffalo=20
State University of New York=20
Department of English=20
306 Clemens Hall=20
Buffalo, NY 14260-4610=20
716-876-7153=20
_sjkelly_at_buffalo.edu_ (mailto:sjkelly_at_buffalo.edu) or Slintphaze_at_aol.com

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Received on Wed Jun 07 2006 - 10:15:54 EDT