|
CFP / Satire Today: Transhistorical,
Transcultural
Dialogues
UK Network for Modern Fiction Conference
Marymount Manhattan College
New York City, June 12-13, 2008
Since the
late twentieth century, there has been a resurgence of scholarly interest in the
theory and practice of satire. A number of theoreticians have endeavored to
re-conceptualize the very idea of the satirical, while artists working in
various genres and media have continued to revitalize and reinvent the mode for
a contemporary context. What new insights into the concept of satire can be
proposed for the twenty-first century?
The UK
Network for Modern Fiction Conference is pleased to be working in conjunction
with Marymount Manhattan College, the hosts, to offers its first north American
event. The organizers invite papers (or agreed panels) focusing on various areas
including contemporary satirical texts that reshape traditional conventions, as
well as contemporary critical approaches to earlier satirical writing (from the
eighteenth century to the present). The conference’s primary focus is on
literary satire, but interdisciplinary approaches and analyses of other media
are most welcome.
Questions
for consideration might include but are not limited to:
What are the
conceptual boundaries of satire?
How have new
forms of satire stretched or questioned those boundaries?
What is the
relationship between satire and innovations in the field of narrative structure?
How have
contemporary satirists reworked and appropriated traditional conventions?
How has the
breakdown of distinctions between popular and high culture influenced satirical
production today?
How does
satire aid our investigation of political discourses?
Does
satirical production perpetuate the postmodernist dynamics of subversion and
complacency?
What are the
traditional and current functions of satire’s self-reflectivity?
What is
satire’s relationship to questions of national/transnational identity?
Is satire
concerned with problems of civic responsibility?
In what ways
does satire interrogate institutions and power structures (political, academic,
and economic)?
What are the
intersections of satire with ethical and religious discourses?
What insights
can be gained from examining the circulation and marketing of satire?
What new
areas of satirical practice are emerging today?
What are
satire’s goals in the contemporary world?
Please submit 300-word proposals for 15-20
minute papers OR for pre-organized panels on appropriate topics (subject to
review by and agreement of the organizers) stating name and affiliation to
Magdalena Maczynska (mmaczynska@mmm.edu)
by December 15, 2007. Successful applicants will be notified by January 15,
2008. Conference fee t.b.a.
|
