Call for Abstracts: Collection of Critical Essays
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Narratives of Community: Women's Short Story Sequences
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While James Joyce's Dubliners (1926) is often credited as the first short =
story sequence, or collection of linked short stories reading like a =
novel, and while Sherwood Anderson claimed that he had invented the genre =
with Winesburg, Ohio, sequences by Grace King, Grace Sartwell Mason, and =
Sarah Orne Jewett (and likely others) predate them both. Since then, this =
form of narrative has appealed particularly to women writers who often =
use it to negotiate the tensions between individual identity and community.=
  In her germinal essay "Narrative of Community: The Identification of a =
Genre," Sandra Zagarell discusses several story sequences as narratives of =
community, although she does not look specifically at the genre.
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This collection will draw together essays that read short story sequences =
by women as narratives of community. While all approaches to the genre =
are welcome, authors might consider how these texts are, in the terms of =
Zagarell's theory, rooted in process as opposed to conflict or progress, =
or how they offer the details of local life as integral parts of the =
semiotic systems of the community. Essays might look to their relational =
orientation or ties with traditional life, or respond to depictions of =
sexuality, familial relations, or religion. Authors might consider why =
this form appeals to women writers, or whether their narrative methods and =
structures, characterization and patterns of imagery constitute unified =
novels or mere series of fragments and what such fragmentation implies =
about constructions of the female self and female roles. Essays might =
draw from a variety of feminist critical schools of thought to examine how =
female identity is articulated, as well as the roles of women in the =
family, in their community, and in society.
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Please send a one-page abstract and brief bio by email attachment. =
Abstracts are due 15 July 2006 and completed papers will be due 1 December =
2006. Authors will be notified by mid-August.
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rharde_at_augustana.ca
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Dr. Roxanne Harde, Assistant Professor
University of Alberta, Augustana Faculty
4901 - 46 Avenue, Camrose, Alberta T4V 2R3
206 North Hall, 780-679-1579

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Received on Wed Jun 07 2006 - 10:15:41 EDT