Wordsworth's "Second Selves":
The Poetic Afterlife, 1798-2002
"for the sake
Of youthful Poets, who among these Hills
Will be my second self when I am gone."
(Michael)
An International conference to be held at Lancaster University,
Tuesday July 23rd-Friday July 26th, 2002.
Keynote Speakers: Mary Jacobus (Cambridge University)
James Chandler (University of
Chicago)
Two Contemporary Poets:
Alice Oswald and John Burnside
Wordsworth's "Second Selves" will explore the nature of cultural transmission
through the consideration of a particularly influential poet from 1800 to the
present day. The conference will be about questioning and defining the nature
of Wordsworthian influence and the ways in which it can be felt, in literature
- through textual rewriting and reference as well as through the moulding of
literary ideas and themes -and in wider cultural movements, such as ecology and
conservation. The three strands of the conference will, we hope, allow a full
consideration of the ways in which Wordsworthian ideas and ideals are made and
remade over time. The three areas which the conference aims to bring together
are:
* Wordsworthian Poetics - papers could be about: any aspect of
Wordsworth's earlier or later poetics; the relationship between his ideas as
expressed in his critical writing and those of later writers; a particular
poetic form or metrical tendency; a theorised approach to the reading and
understanding of Wordsworth's poetry.
* Contemporary and Victorian responses - papers could address the
perception of Wordsworth himself, or his writing, by his own generation; his
relationship with second generation Romanticism; his critical reception by his
contemporaries; his relationship with the reader; Wordsworth's existence as a
living presence amongst the Victorians; the definition of a "Wordsworthian";
literary influence on key themes or writers of the Victorian period (such as
Arnold, Eliot or Dickens); the origins of ecological thinking as a response to
Wordsworth.
* Wordsworth in the Twentieth Century - perhaps the loosest category,
papers might be about the treatment of "Wordsworthian" themes in later writers
or poets, particularly: Englishness and Nationhood; the Importance of Place;
Walking and Talking; Topography and Poetry. This strand could also include
material on green politics and conservation in relation to Romantic origins;
Wordsworth and the Net; and reflections on Wordsworth and the post-modern.
The conference will run over three days beginning on Tuesday evening with the
first plenary session. Participants should aim to arrive during Tuesday
afternoon (4-6 pm.) The first plenary lecture will be at 6 p.m. on Tuesday,
followed by the conference dinner. Papers will then follow on Wednesday all
day, Thursday morning and Friday, with the conference ending at 3 pm. in order
to allow time to travel home. On Thursday afternoon there will be no papers.
Instead we offer conference participants the chance to walk across Lancaster
Bay led by Cedric Robinson, the Queen's own Guide, (thus following Wordsworth's
own recommended route to the lakes). This is a four hour, 8 mile walk and
quite testing. Those preferring quieter pursuits might spend the afternoon
enjoying a trip to Hawkshead or Lancaster itself.
Proposals, in the form of a brief abstract of no more than 250 words are now
invited for papers which address any aspect of these issues. Proposals should
be addressed to "Wordsworth's Second Selves", Department of English, Bowland
College, University of Lancaster, Lancaster. LA1 4YT
Closing Date: January 31st, 2002.
Contact: s.bushell@lancaster.ac.uk or t.pinkney@lancaster.ac.uk
And don't forget our Websites:
<http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/english/wordsworth/wordsworth.htm>
and <http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/english/wordsworth/conference.htm>
UPDATED MESSAGE:
Wordsworth's Second Selves: The Poetic Afterlife 1798-2002, An International
Conference at Lancaster University, Keynotes: Mary Jacobus, James Chandler,
Alice Oswald and John Burnside.
PLEASE NOTE:
* Slight change of date *: The Conference will now begin in the evening
of Tuesday 23rd July with Registration 4-6.00 and the first plenary at 6 pm.
The conference was previously advertised as starting on Wednesday 24th July.
* Registration form (and updated details) now available online at:
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/english/wordsworth/conference.htm
*Deadline for Abstracts* = January 31st 2002. Send them to:
s.bushell@lancaster.ac.uk
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CFP@english.upenn.edu
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or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu
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