Women and Work in Literature

deadline for submissions: 
May 15, 2018
full name / name of organization: 
Susanne Weil/Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association

Pacific Ancient and Modern Languages Association (PAMLA, the west coast regional division of the Modern Language Association)

Special Session:  Women and Work in Literature

Chairs:  Susanne Weil, Centralia College; Christine Mower, Seattle University

How do writers represent the work of being women—where “work” is defined broadly to encompass not only paid labor inside and outside the home, but also the work of performing femininity and domesticity?  How do writers address social assumptions about who should be performing work, and for what purpose?  As subjects of scrutiny by those in positions of power, women must be conscious of how they present self, not only in performing waged work, but also in enacting their own presentation of self. How does this self-consciousness affect women’s ability to define both the meaning of their work and their ability to engage in work? Possible foci include ways that writers address social assumptions about who should be performing work, for what purpose, and how race, class, sexuality and national identity affect this performance.  Please submit 50-word abstracts plus a longer proposal by May 15, 2018 to both the email address above and the Pacific Ancient and Modern Language association website (pamla.org): PAMLA requires that those submitting proposal do so directly through the conference website.