The broadcast of the miniseries adaptation of Alex Haley’s Roots, which aired in January of 1977, became a ratings bonanza, a cultural touchstone, and a defining moment in the representation of African Americans in popular media. 40 years later, the impact of Alex Haley’s novel and the ABC miniseries continues to be felt, most notably in the recent History Channel “reboot” of the miniseries, but also in less obvious but more profound ways. In the stimulus it provided to African American genealogy, in its vivid dramatization of a counter-narrative to the conventional story of American history, and in its call to Americans to publicly address the issue of slavery and its legacy, the popularity of Roots helped to shape the contemporary state of race relations in the United States.

This panel seeks to bring together perspectives on the miniseries that consider a range of approaches to reflecting on what Roots meant for its original audiences in 1977, as well as what Haley’s inter-generational narrative means for us today in 2017. Proposed papers may address the relationship between the novel and the miniseries; the historical, socio-political, literary, or pop-cultural background of Haley’s narrative; the manner in which representations of race and slavery in Roots align with or disrupt similar representation in mass-media before and after 1977; analyses of how the racial climate of the late 1970s compares to that of the late 2010s; or any other related topics.

NeMLA formatting standards: 

• Paper Title: 100 characters (including spaces)
• Paper Abstract: 300 words

Starting June 15th, please submit abstracts to this panel here: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/16169

48th Annual NeMLA ConventionBaltimore, Maryland | March 23 - 26th, 2017

Deadline for submissions: September 30, 2016