CFP — NeMLA 2021 (March 11-14, Philadelphia)

How have British and American institutions shaped Anglophone literatures across the 20th and into the 21st centuries? In the decades accompanying decolonization, London and New York remain literary capitals by dint of their concentration of literary capital: the infrastructure of publishers and periodicals, agencies and awards that—staffed by professional readers—support (and distort) the creative act. Centers of cultural gravity, they continue to set standards and bestow prestige, offering more reliable access to readers and remuneration, acting on the materials of writers and manuscripts drawn from around the world. The power to publish and to secure market access manifests in acceptance and rejection, facilitation and revision, assistance and suppression. This panel is looking for papers that explore the relationships between Anglophone writers and the publishers, editors, and agents who represent dominant Anglo-American literary institutions.

What influence do such partnerships wield over the creation and reception of Anglophone literary works—over the making of texts and tastes? Can writers alter the institutions, even as they are altered by them? How do rival centers arise and challenge the balance of power? Papers may interrogate both the publishing conditions which accord such privilege to English and the rising, disputed discipline of the Global Anglophone.

The deadline for abstracts is September 30th, 2020.

Please send questions to baf77@cornell.edu and submit abstracts (200-300 words) through the NeMLA user portal: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/18656.