Papers are sought for "Boys vs. Girls: Competing Views of Competition in
American Sports Literature," a session to be held at the NEMLA Conference
in Boston (March, 2003).
In a 1987 article surveying the history of the feminist sports novel in
America, Michael Oriard identifies Jenifer Levin's Water Dancer as a
significant turning point, explaining how the book critiques the concept
of competition and "offers a feminist alternative to the masculine sports
myth"-- an alternative that privileges contentment with self over
domination of others.
Using Oriard's analysis as a springboard, this panel seeks to examine the
ways in which male and female characters (participants and/or spectators)
in twentieth and twenty-first century American novels, stories, plays, and
poems understand competitive sport. Among the questions that might be
considered: Do male and female character-athletes or spectators adhere to
different sports myths? Do they compete differently? To what extent do
they adopt culturally constructed notions about who is permitted to
compete (and to what degree)? How do male and female characters conduct
themselves while viewing or participating in a competitive sport? What
does it mean for male or female character-athletes to win or lose?
Although at first glance the panel's focus might seem narrow, interesting
papers could be developed on a variety of works and authors ranging from
the canonical to the "obscure." Here are some possibilities: Ring Lardner
("Champion," "Harmony"), Ellen Gilchrist ("Revenge"), Jack London ("A
Piece of Steak"), Maxine Kumin ("To Swim, to Believe"), Ernest Hemingway
(The Sun Also Rises, "The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber"), August
Wilson (Fences), Marge Piercy ("Morning Athletes"), Don DeLillo (End Zone,
Underworld), Carol Anshaw (Aquamarine), Jenifer Levin (Water Dancer, "Her
Marathon"), Jason Miller (That Championship Season), Bobbie Ann Mason
("State Champions"), T.C. Boyle ("The Hector Quesadilla Story"), Robert
Coover (The Universal Baseball Association), Bernard Malamud (The
Natural), and Lucy Jane Bledsoe ("Teamwork"). All of these writers (and
many more over the last one hundred years) have penned works that use
competitive sport to foreground issues of gender.
In keeping with the competitive, "head-to-head" nature of the panel's
focus, comparative analyses are especially encouraged; however, papers
that discuss one work will be gladly welcomed. Regardless of approach,
papers must focus on works that use sport (defined loosely as a
rule-bound, competitive activity of some sort) to comment on issues of
gender.
300-500 word abstracts are due by September 15 to:
Michael Cocchiarale
Humanities Division
Widener University
Chester PA, 19013
Abstracts may also be sent via email: mfc0001@ mail.widener.edu
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