In keeping with the presidential theme of the 2026 MMLA Conference, “After the Archives,” to be held in Chicago from November 12-14, 2026, papers that incorporate and/or interrogate the archives are welcomed for this year’s panel on American Literature before 1870.

How have the archives shaped American Literature, and how do they continue to inflect and inform our critical reception of the past?  The term “archive” should be construed broadly, from the traditional to the digital.  Archives are central in the preservation and erasure of cultural memory.  Scholars might consider new directions and applications of archival research in our technological age.  Alternatively, they might examine the relevance of traditional archival research, even “after the archive.”  How does the archive shape and inform our present engagement with the cultural legacies of the past?  How does American Literature before 1870 embody an archival practice in its own right?  Papers that excavate the archive broadly conceived to shed new light on American Literature before 1870 are welcomed.

Please email 250-300 word proposals and CVs to jonathan.murphy@tamiu.edu by April 27, 2026.