Call for Papers
Laval 2001 ACCUTE conference 23-26 May
_Homosexuality as Literary Plague: Canadian Literature and the
Inscription of Pathology_
Homosexual desire has often been pathologized, criminalized and ignored,
both in the writing and study of Canadian literatures, in English or French.
Its appearance has been used to explain the pathological nature of disease and
dis-ease, especially (though not exclusively) as it may relate to the current
scourge of HIV and AIDS.
>From psychiatrically-inscribed illness (read: thwarted heterosexuality) to
"self-inflicted" affliction (read: AIDS), homosexual-related discourses
prescribe a normative heterosexuality, one which controls other sexualities
by labeling them either deviant or criminal. This is especially apparent in
the construction of the Canadian literary canon, where the aspiration and need
for a "straight"-forward tradition underscored--and continues to do so--an
anxiety regarding presumably uncontrollable sexual desires inimical to its
project.
How has homosexuality-as-plague revealed itself in either fictive or
non-fictive accounts? How has the appearance of what was labeled sexually
deviant enabled the status quo fix of a normative national heterosexual
conscience? Which closeted fictions reveal configurations of problematic
identities, genders and subjectivities, especially as these evoked and trouble
"acceptable" (sexual) desire? How have writers accepted as much as rejected
circulating psychosocial profiles of the homosexual in Canada, including those
writers who may have been homosexual themselves?
Proposals may consider not only the coterie of "usual suspects"--Sinclair
Ross, Patrick Anderson, John Glassco--but also those not particularly given more
extended study concerning their uses of homosexuality (Michael Ondaatje's
revisionism in _The English Patient_, for example) and those who use and
problematizing of homosexuality has been largely ignored (Steven Weiner,
Peter McGhee).
Three copies of papers or proposals, accompanied by three copies of a 100
word abstract and a 50-word autobiographical sketch, should be sent to the
address below by November 15. Email and disc copies (MS Word) are also welcome.
Proposals should be 300-500 words in length and should clearly indicate the
originality of the paper, the argument, principal texts used, and the
contribution to existing scholarship. Completed papers should also fulfill
these criteria and be NO LONGER THAN 12 PAGES, double-spaced.
Andrew Lesk
318 Albany Ave
Toronto ON
M5R 3C9
Département d'Études anglaises
Université de Montréal
CP 6128 succ Centre-Ville
Montréal QC H3C 3J7
Canada
www.andrewlesk.com
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