CFP: The Historical Novel (7/15/03; CNYCLL, 10/26/03-10/28/03)

From: cher holt-fortin (aikiquilter@mindspring.com)
Date: Fri Mar 28 2003 - 10:58:35 EST


PLEASE POST
CALL FOR PAPERS
13TH ANNUAL CENTRAL NEW YORK CONFERENCE
ON LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE
CORTLAND COLLEGE OF THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK
                           26-28 OCTOBER 2003

THE HISTORICAL NOVEL
Chair: Cher Holt-Fortin
4129 Apulia Road
Jamesville, NY 13078
email: holtfort@oswego.edu <mailto:holtfort@oswego.edu>
Deadline: 500 word abstracts by 7/15/03

The historical novel offers its readers a way of looking at the past =
that varies in its accuracy from the wildly anachronistic to the =
painfully researched. The difficulty being that of putting oneself into =
the emotional and psychological reality of another time, challenges the =
author to create or recreate an authenticity that the reader has no =
clear way of evaluating. Thus, one of the interesting questions about =
the historical novel is what exactly goes into making one successful. =
Are Sir Walter Scott's historical romances less successful than the =
carefully researched novels of Dorothy Dunnett? And how does genre =
affect the product? Do we think less of the historical romance than we =
do of the historical mystery? Are both of them a 'lesser' product =
compared to the straight historical novel. This panel would explore the =
qualities of various genres of historical novels.=20

=20

I invite papers on any of the following topics or others of your own =
devising:

=20

Novels of the near past/ deep past (interpret the time frame as you =
will)

Historical novel as history

Historical detective fiction

Historical romance

The importance of research and how to go about it

Anachronism

Language-how to get it right. Who does? Who doesn't?

Truth vs a good story

Dialog-how to make it sound real

Emotion-culturally appropriate expression of them. Can we do it =
realistically? Should we even try?

=20

Possible authors to consider:

Patrick O'Brian

Pat Barker

Dorothy Dunnett

Mary Lee Settle

Joyce Howe

Diana Gabaldon

=20

Papers should fit within a 20-minute reading time.

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