CFP: Textualities of American Drama (ALA Boston, May 23-26)
Textualities of American Drama: What are the textual forms of American drama? Dramatic works produced during the nineteenth century (an age largely dominated by spectacular melodrama) and the early twentieth century (an era that turned imperfectly to dramatic realism) are often studied according to their production histories rather than their circulation as printed play texts. But the publication of dramatic texts was a significant subplot of the expanding publishing industry throughout the United States. How did the making and consumption of plays in print shape the literary status of American drama?