Conspiracy Theories in American Literature (Finland) (5/24/07-5/26/07)

Papers are invited for a "Conspiracy Theories in American Literature"
workshop taking place at the 20th Biennial Nordic Association for
American Studies (NAAS)
Conference at the University of Tampere, Finland between May 24-26,
2007. The conference theme this year is "American Bodies, American
Violence".

At least since World War Two, conspiracy theories have been conspicuous in
U.S literature. Exponents include, for example, William Burroughs,
Norman Mailer,Ismael Reed, Philip Roth, Thomas Pynchon and Don
DeLillo. Though
writers concerned with conspiracy theories tend to be male, the
theories they address do not necessarily bear any other similarity.
Novelists may focus on the secret power of the Left (Roth?s "American
Pastoral"), the Right (Pynchon?s "Gravity?s Rainbow") or what Jean
Baudrillard has called ?the simulacra? of hyper-real media images (Don
DeLillo?s "White Noise"). This workshop will explore the relations, if
any, between such conspiracy theories. Further, it will interrogate
their functions in ethnic, sexual and national discourses of what
constitutes a ?true? (ie, non-conspiratorial) American identity.

Papers on other media concerned with conspiracy, such as cinema and
television, will also be welcome at this workshop.

Proposals of 250 words should be sent by February 15 to: Peter.Lawson_at_uta.fi
--Dr Peter LawsonLecturerDepartment of English33014 University of TampereFINLANDe-mail: Peter.Lawson_at_uta.fiphone: +358 (0)335 516 125 (office)fax: +358 (0)335 517 146 (department office) ========================================================== 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 Tue Jan 16 2007 - 17:19:08 EST