Actualité
Appels à contributions
Call for Papers: NeMLA Convention 2008

Call for Papers: NeMLA Convention 2008

Publié le par Bérenger Boulay (Source : Natalie Edwards, Wagner College)

Dear colleagues,

Please find below the calls for papers for French panels for the 2008 Convention of the North East Modern Languages Association, which will take place in Buffalo, New York, April 10-13. Abstracts are due to panel chairs by September 15 unless otherwise stated.


Medieval Precursors of the Modern Novel

Papers are invited that explore how he romances of Chretien de Troyes and other French medieval writers influenced (positively or negatively) the modern novel in such areas as plot, character development, and moral instruction. Kitty Dean, Nassau Community College kittydean@earthlink.net


Moliere, Past and Present

This panel invites abstracts on the works of Moliere, as well as abstracts on Moliere?s influence on Francophone theatre and literature. Send abstracts in body of email to nemlasupport@gmail.com, with "Moliere" in the subject line.


Women and War in Seventeenth and Eighteenth-Century French Literature

Literary and autobiographical representations of female warriors, peacemakers, or victims of war. Papers addressing fictional or autobiographical works by male and female authors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries are welcomed. Send abstracts to: Karen Sullivan; Dept. of European Languages and Literatures; Queens College/CUNY;65-30 Kissena Bd.; Flushing, NY 11367-1597; karen.sullivan@qc.cuny.edu


Poétique de la maison dans le roman français du XIXe siècle

Comment la maison raconte-t-elle dans le roman français du XIXe siècle ? Les analyses pourront porter, notamment, sur toutes les pièces qui la constituent - salons, chambres, boudoirs, antichambres, cuisines, salles à manger, alcôves, ateliers, bibliothèques, serres, etc -, et voudront expliquer la fonction romanesque des espaces domestiques : leurs scènes types, leurs personnages, leurs gestes, leurs mots, leurs choses, leurs symboles, voire leurs bruits. Prière d'acheminer un résumé (250-500 mots) : Jean-François Richer, Dept. of French, Italian and Spanish, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, AB, T2N 1N4, Canada, jricher@loyola.edu


Textual/Visual Selves: Photography, Art and Performance in French Autobiography

This panel will examine the proliferation of autobiographical narratives in French that mix the visual and the textual. Many autobiographers have relied upon photography as a catalyst for ordering memory and creating a coherent self in narrative. In this panel, we will compare and contrast writers' usage of visual elements in autobiographical narrative, ranging from photography to film to performance to bande dessinée. Send 250-word abstract to Natalie Edwards at natalie.edwards@wagner.edu


Symptomatic Aesthetics: Medical Discourses and Literary Representations

This panel investigates how modern literature, including literary theory, assimilates, appropriates, (mis)shapes, aestheticizes, glorifies, mocks, or challenges 19th century medical discourses (neurology, psychology, psychiatry, phrenology, psychoanalysis). We look for papers that engage medical texts and narrative, addressing medical literariness. Email proposals to mblock@princeton.edu, mmimran@princeton.edu.


Ethical Criticism After Barthes

While ethics and literature have long enjoyed a complementary relation, critics have recently attempted to think of the relation between ethics and literature differently, to take up an ethical approach that would recognize the specificity or ?singularity of literature,? to borrow Derek Attridge?s formulation. This panel seeks papers that explore the possibility of ethical criticism after Barthes, an approach that foregrounds pleasure in the act of reading without, however, making such textual pleasure (jouissance) devoid of ethical concern. Abstracts (250 words) can be sent to zallouz@whitman.edu.


Newly Published Additions to Already "Completed" Oeuvres

This session explores very recently discovered and/or published texts by already well known and well studied authors. We are seeking to examine the ways in which newly discovered texts of this kind, published long after the rest of the author?s  ?uvre, shed light on the corpus and also, in some cases, on the coming to writing of the young author-to-be and on original iterations of works with which we are familiar. Especially welcome are autobiographical texts or journals, which offer a unique new perspective on later works. Send abstracts in body of e-mail to Bethany Ladimer (ladimer@middlebury.edu)


Reverse Im/migration

Paper proposals (in French or English) are invited that elucidate the various stakes (political, cultural, ethical etc.) of ultra-contemporary literary and filmic works from the Francophone world that stage French nationals as economic im/migrants in countries that have traditionally been associated with migration to metropolitan France. Send abstracts (250-500 words) via e-mail attachment to Helene Sicard-Cowan at helene.sicard-cowan@mcgill.ca.


Artful Narrations: Impact of Visual Arts on Narrative

We invite papers, both in French and English, which explore the impact of visual arts on the narrative structure in contemporary French and Francophone novels and short stories. Send a 250-word abstract as a Word document to Vera Klekovkina, USC (klekovki@usc.edu) by August 15.



Poetry Reading: Multicultural Voices from the French Speaking World

Poets writing in French are invited to submit sample of their work for this creative poetry reading panel. Please send no more than ten poems, a brief bio including poetry publications by email to carruggi@newschool.edu as well as by postal mail to: Dr. Noëlle Carruggi 605 E 14 Street, 8G New York, NY 1009


Gendered Migrations in French and Francophone Literature

Recent waves of female migration have led to more works by female migrant writers, describing their own experiences, often in opposition to those of male protagonists. The female migrant is frequently portrayed as more resourceful and flexible than her male counterpart. Why are gendered migrations portrayed so differently, and what is it that leads authors to present females as more successful than males (or vice versa) in migration? What tools to authors employ to represent this success or failure? Furthermore, could we say these portrayals have any bases in reality? Please send 250-word abstracts to Christopher Hogarth, Wagner College: christopher.hogarth@wagner.edu


North African Francophone Theater: An ignored plea for freedom

For North African theater to regain its true leading role in Francophone Literature, the proposed panel will offer opportunities to present such authors? theater works, focusing on their plea for freedom, the cultural or political issues, author?s distinctiveness as well as consider why they are being ignored. Send 1-page abstracts to David Delamatta: david@centrebilingue.org


Francophone Canadian Writing

This panel invites abstracts on Canadian writing in French in any genre, with a particular interest in the role of Quebec theatre. Jane Koustas, Brock University jkoustas@brocku.ca


Francophone Caribbean Writing

This panel invites abstracts on Caribbean writing in French in any genre. Timothy Gerhard, Cortland University GerhardT@cortland.edu


Francophone Maghrebian Literature

This panel invites abstracts on the Maghrebian novel in French, with particular interest in the role of cultural "métissage" and its consequences. Tamara El-Hoss, Brock University: telhoss@brocku.ca


Twenty-first Century French and Francophone Film

This panel will explore turn of the century and twenty-first century film in French. What new trends are discernable in most recent French/Francophone cinema? How do filmmakers represent the new century? How do their films offer continuity with or rupture from cinematic tradition? 300-word abstracts due to Natalie Edwards by September 15: natalie.edwards@wagner.edu


A Crisis in Numbers? Attracting Undergraduate Students to French Programs

In this roundtable, we will discuss ways in which faculty can attract students to our programs as many of us face the problem of dwindling numbers. MLA statistics show that undergraduate enrollments are steadily falling. Yet, many of us are required to maintain our numbers due to budgetary issues in our institutions/departments and to safeguard our positions! This roundtable will assemble colleagues who have devised ways of attracting and retaining students, such as extra-curricular activities, study-abroad programs, publicity, program innovation, interdisciplinary innovations etc. Send 250-word abstract to Natalie Edwards at natalie.edwards@wagner.edu