Dear List-Serv,
South Central Modern Language Association Call for Papers: New Orleans, =
Louisiana October 28 - 30, 2004: =20
Cultural =
Confluences =20
Abstracts and brief vita invited for the =
following Special Session:
******** Anti-Patriots and Cosmopolitans in American Literature =
********
This panel calls for a critical analysis of literary texts produced in =
the
Americas that discuss cosmopolitanism and patriotism. Phrased =
differently,
the panel organizers are looking for abstracts that will develop into
twenty minute papers on American writers who describe the dynamics =
between
American identity and world citizenship. Although some =
multiculturalists
have disparaged cosmopolitanism as an empty elitism, others have deemed =
it
a useful defense against unwarranted national power. Critics have
identified stories from writers as varied as Henry James, Herman =
Melville,
and Zora Neale Hurston as exemplifying a sometimes confusing mix of the
cosmopolitan and the patriotic.
Participants might consider, for example, how American texts define a
cosmopolitan personhood that transcends national boundaries without =
being
anti-patriotic. Or, conversely, some submitters may want to focus on
twentieth and twenty-first century American writers like Ishmael Reed,
Thomas Pynchon, and Kathy Acker who seem to see the exhaustion of
nationalism and patriotism leading to satire, burlesque, and cynicism.
Do these and other American writers help us understand what a =
cosmopolitan
political loyalty would look like? How do "hyphenated" contemporary
American writers approach these issues? Can a "rooted" American
cosmopolitanism exist comfortably with varieties of patriotic desire?
Send abstracts, electronically or otherwise, (no papers at this time,
please) and short vitas postmarked by January 12, 2004 to:
Lou Caton - lcaton@wsc.ma.edu
fax: 413 572 8147
Westfield State College - English Department - Bates 103
577 Western Avenue, Westfield, MA 01086
===============================================
From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
CFP@english.upenn.edu
Full Information at
http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/
or write Erika Lin: elin@english.upenn.edu
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