Literature and Social Capital (MLA '04; December 2004)
A proposed special section for the 2004 MLA convention in Philadelphia,
27-30 December.
Much sociological theory is concerned with the perceived anomie and a lost
sense of community in contemporary social formations of various kinds from
nations and cities, to corporate organizations and neighborhoods. Informed
by the tradition of continental philosophy, the work of Pierre Bordieu and
Michel De Certeau has richly interrogated this problem from a theoretical
perspective while Anglo-American commentators have taken a more pragmatic
and discursive approach as represented in the work of Richard Sennett and,
more recently, Robert Putnam and Michael Walzer, to name only a few.
Although literary scholars have proven eager to deploy this useful array of
theory, analyses of this problem from a uniquely literary perspective have
been less cogent and have failed to address the signal role that literature
has played (or might play) in redressing this historical dilemma.
How do literary productions comment on and contribute to social capital and
meaningful community formation in various periods? How might literary
scholarship usefully be enlisted in this important and evolving body of
social theory? Papers on any aspect of social capital in literary studies
or applied to literature of any genre, nation, or historical period are
welcome.
Abstracts and vita by 1 March. Mark Bayer. mark@aub.edu.lb
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