THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE GOOD: EXPLORING THE BEAUTY CONTROVERSY IN CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Writers, philosophers and artists have long pondered the relationship between the beautiful and the good. Elaine Scarry's seductive On Beauty and Being Just leaps calmly into the fray, arguing that beauty "actually assists us in the work of addressing justice," and thereby establishes a tenuous relationship between beauty and human rights. But the opposing argument—that beauty essentially derails justice, either by distracting or lulling the senses or, more insidiously, by aestheticizing what is dangerous and unjust—still thrives. This panel welcomes proposals for twenty minute papers on contemporary explorations (whether overt, as in Zadie Smith's On Beauty, or implicit) of this controversy. Papers on pop cultural texts (films, TV shows)are also welcome. By June 20, 2009, please submit 250-word proposals to Margaret E. Mitchell, University of West Georgia, at mmitchel@westga.edu.