Romantic and Victorian Entertainments

Graduate Student Literature Conference
University of South Carolina, Columbia

March 23-24, 2007

>From the Grand Tour to gambling, and grand balls to opium dens, nineteenth-century authors represented entertainment in various ways. The virtues and vices of nineteenth-century amusements and leisure activities were themes in both British and American literature of the period, and these areas of life reflected and defined the historical, social, and literary climate of the century.

Our fifth annual graduate conference hopes to examine issues related to entertainment and leisure in the nineteenth century, as well as their relationship to both contemporary and modern literary creation, criticism, and reception. How was play and playfulness represented by different authors in different periods of the nineteenth century? How did writers on opposite sides of the Atlantic or on opposite sides of the world react to the growing possibilities for "free time." How did the Industrial Revolution both help and hinder chances for leisure? What effects did legislative action have on entertainment? What were the differences between "high" and "low" entertainments? How did print function as an amusement? We invite papers that explore the theme of entertainments and amusements in nineteenth-century American, British, and World literature. Papers which address Trans-Atlantic topics are especially encouraged.

Possible topics could include but are not limited to:

Gaming
Gambling and speculating
Sports
Hunting
Drinking
The Grand Tour
The idea of "free time"
Artistic pastimes
The idea of "creativity"
Recreational use of opium
Prostitution
Pornography
Inventions
Hobbies
Fashion
Reading aloud
Story-telling
Riddles and other word games
Fairs and carnivals
Séances
Gardening and landscaping
Cooking
Theatre
Closet dramas
Music and dancing
Collecting
Freak shows
Tourist stops and popular resorts
Parties and balls
Charades and other parlour games

 
Abstracts of 250 words or less are due by December 1, 2006. Please include your name, the name of your institution and program, and any A/V needs that you may have. Submit abstracts electronically via email to:

Melissa Edmundson
(British Literature and Comparative or Non-English Literature)
edmundrm_at_gwm.sc.edu

Celeste Pottier
(American Literature)
pottier_at_gwm.sc.edu

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Received on Fri Aug 11 2006 - 17:15:58 EDT