Texts and Events in 1737
Neither a beginning nor an end, the year 1737 frames an array of events-
-natural, political, commercial, religious--that took place in Britain
and its colonies. A sampling: London newspapers reported an earthquake
and cyclone that together killed almost 300,000 people in Calcutta.
Pamphlets described a solar eclipse over Scotland. Workers completed
the King's Road between Montreal and Quebec. Ben Franklin was named
Philadephia's postmaster. The first Great Awakening peaked with George
Whitefield's arrival in London, John Wesley's tour of Georgia, and
Jonathan Edwards's publication of "A Faithful Narrative of the
Surprising Works of God." Following playhouse riots and Opposition
satires, Parliament enacted the first statutory censorship of British
theater, the Stage Licensing Act. Edward Gibbon, Thomas Paine, and Adam
Smith were born. Queen Caroline died.
This panel will explore the ways in which we make sense of these
events. It will address constructions of Early Modern history by
examining the dynamic interchange between the events of 1737 and the
wide range of literary productions mediating them. Each paper should
contribute a case study that examines the ways in which texts--letters,
sermons, speeches, print materials, theatrical performances--
transformed cultural events and individuals' experiences into
documents, memories, history. Using the bounds of the year as framing
device, papers should also reflect on critical methodology and
assumptions: by extracting events and texts from more familiar thematic
and period narratives, what do we learn about Early Modern culture?
What is lost and what is gained from this kind of experimentation?
Please send proposals of 250-300 words along with a brief cover letter
and CV to panel organizers Jenn Fishman (jfishman@stanford.edu) and
Laura McGrane (lmcgrane@stanford.edu). Proposals should be received no
later than Monday, 22 April 2002.
The 10th annual meeting of the Group for Early Modern Cultural Studies
(GEMCS) will take place 14-17 November in Tampa, Florida. For more
conference information, see http://english.fsu.edu/gemcs/2002call.html.
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