Joseph Conrad: Tyranny and Revolution
Joseph Conrad: Tyranny and Revolution
Joseph Conrad Society of America (MLA Allied Organization) MLA 2025 New Orleans
Conrad was a victim of political tyranny and one of its most trenchant observers in fiction. In a time when regional wars threaten to metastasize into larger conflicts and autocracy is on the rise, this call invites contributors to explore how Conrad’s works might lend us insights today. Papers on how Conrad’s fiction and non-fiction address political tyranny, or revolution, or both, are welcome. While tyrants and revolutionaries are well-known in such novels as Nostromo, The Secret Agent, and Under Western Eyes, and his most well-known political essay, “Autocracy and War,” Conrad was equally interested in the French Revolution and the Napoleonic wars, which form the backdrop of “The Duel,” The Rover, and the unfinished Suspense. Broader interpretations of tyranny and revolution in a wider range of scenarios are encouraged, for instance under the auspices of colonial regimes or capitalism, or attention to understudied texts.
Deadline extended to March 28, and papers will be considered for a special issue of Conradiana on the theme of tyranny and revolution.
Send 250-word proposals & a 3-page CV by March 28th 2024 / Prof. Jana Giles < giles@ulm.edu >