Call for Papers

Completely LOST: Going Back to TV's Most Elusive Island

41st Anniversary Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
April 7-11, 2010
Montreal, Quebec - Hilton Bonaventure

2010 marks the sixth and final season of "Lost," the television series about a group of plane crash survivors stranded on a mysterious island. The 41st NeMLA convention will take place just a few weeks before the final episode, presenting an ideal opportunity to look back over the run of the show as a whole from an (almost) complete perspective. "Lost" has received a great deal of attention from academic audiences, but all critical pronouncements concerning the show have been provisional and tentative. Indeed, this limitation is particularly problematic when it comes to "Lost," the most conspicuous feature of which is its recursive plot. In the 2009 season, the characters actually went back in time to redefine, if not completely rewrite, what had already happened in the narrative of the show. The 2010 conference will be one of the first opportunities for scholars to come together to discuss the show in its (virtual) entirety. This panel will be particularly interested in critical approaches to "Lost" which take advantage of this unique moment to survey the entire narrative arc of the show. How have various themes or symbols evolved over the course of the series? How has the development of the characters on "Lost" defied or adhered to the conventions of character development typical of other television shows? How has time itself, as well as the relationship between "narrative time" and "real time," been exploited and examined throughout the run of the series? Send 250-word abstracts to Randy Laist at rlaist2000@yahoo.com.

Deadline: September 30, 2009

Please include with your abstract:

Name and Affiliation
Email address
Postal address
Telephone number
A/V requirements (if any; $10 handling fee)

The 41st Annual Convention will feature approximately 350 sessions, as well as dynamic speakers and cultural events. Details and the complete Call for Papers for the 2010 Convention will be posted in June: www.nemla.org.

Interested participants may submit abstracts to more than one NeMLA session; however panelists can only present one paper (panel or seminar). Convention participants may present a paper at a panel and also present at a creative session or participate in a roundtable.

Travel to Canada now requires a passport for U.S. citizens. Please get your passport application in early.