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

This panel invites presentations that provide both practical and theoretical approaches to teaching contemporary fiction from the Middle East. Topics may address the following: the problem of translation/translatability of texts that refer to complex histories and integrate various discourses; the history of the novel as a genre in the Middle East, focusing on current influential novelists, themes, and debates; the question of immigration viewed either in practical or in abstract terms (for example, as a trope for philosophical discourse in Islam); and, finally, the question of God and representations of the divine as an artistic or thematic preoccupation. Interdisciplinary approaches using novels such as Alaa Al-Aswany's The Yacoubian Building and Orhan Pamuk's Snow to broaden the scope of literary analysis are especially welcome. Please send 250-word abstracts to Sally Gomaa, sally.gomaa@salve.edu

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.