CFP: In Wilde's Wake: Controlling Sex and Literature in Edwardian England (3/21/03; MLA '03)

CFP: "In Wilde's Wake: Controlling Sex and Literature in Edwardian England"
(3/21; MLA '03)

The sensational nature of Oscar Wilde’s trials brought the suspect
relationship between literature and sexuality into a new, sharper focus for
the British public. The following decades saw intensifying battles over
Victorian ideas/ ideals of sexuality, such as the growth of political and
social organizations promoting alternatives to the institution of marriage;
increasing visibility of advocates of birth control; newly emergent
medical/psychological discourses competing to categorize and explain
varieties of sexual desire and behavior; and public outcries over
government censorship of allegedly “indecent” literary publications.
Writers of all stripes took up these and related issues, some defending and
others challenging traditional ideas of sexual morality.

This proposed special session for the 2003 MLA in San Diego seeks to
explore the intersections of literary production and the social control of
sexuality during the often overlooked Edwardian years. Papers are invited
either that use a literary approach to focus on a specific text, writer,
publisher, etc. or that use an interdisciplinary or theoretical approach to
address a relevant aspect of the above issues.

Please send a 1-2 paragraph abstract, a CV, and contact information via
email to: weexx003_at_umn.edu

or via snail mail to: Allison L. E. Wee
                        Department of English
                        University of Minnesota
                        207 Lind Hall
                        207 Church Street S.E.
                        Minneapolis, MN 55455

Deadline for submissions is March 21, 2003. All prospective panelists must
be MLA members by April 7, 2003.
 

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Received on Tue Mar 18 2003 - 17:06:39 EST