CFP: Affidavit-Effects: The Novel As/And Written Testimony (3/1/07; MLA '07)

full name / name of organization: 
Jackson, Tony
contact email: 

"Affidavit-Effects: The Novel As/And Written Testimony"

=20

In the history of story, the realistic novel (which I take to be the =
definitive form of the novel as a genre) stands out as a kind of written =
story that regularly presents fiction as, one way or the other, =
courtroom testimony; which is to say as an affidavit, a written copy of =
an oral statement made on oath. I am looking for paper proposals that =
somehow consider the novel as a genre and/or specific novels in this =
way. I am interested in comparing the significances of the effects that =
emerge when a written fictional text affiliates itself to oral speech =
given on oath. In other words, in line with contemporary emphases on =
material textualities, I am hoping that each paper will in some way =
involve the distinction between writing/print and speech. A proposal may =
involve a novel that is directly about courts or the law or legal =
trials, or it may not. Either way, I am looking for claims that will be =
broad enough to appeal to anyone who might be interested in the nature =
of the novel as a form of narrative.=20

=20

Some Issues that possibly come into play:

=20

the effects of conflating a kind of writing with a kind of speech

=20

the ethical issues raised in considering fictional story as testimony at =
all

=20

historical explanations of how/why this particular kind of written story =
came to take on this sense of itself

=20

how this self-representation plays out in different forms of the novel =
(epistolary, first person, third person, etc)

=20

contrastive consideration of non-novel story forms with the novel as =
affidavit

=20

the issue of (at least before the 1870's) the novel being written by =
hand, but published in print

=20

Please send 200-500 word proposals and a brief cv by email or snailmail =
to the addresses below, by March 1.=20

=20
=20
Tony Jackson
Associate Professor, English
University of North Carolina, Charlotte, 28223
704-687-4216
tejackso_at_uncc.edu

         ==========================================================
              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 Sun Feb 04 2007 - 13:31:08 EST