The Medieval Romance Society is sponsoring the following session at the 37th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI, in 2002.
"Medieval Romance and Cyber Theory: Exploring Virtual Worlds and Identities"
This session on cyber theory will focus on an extremely new critical approach to literature and consider its possible application to medieval romance. Drawing on the works of Baudrillard, Benedikt, and Peña, cyber-theorists, such as Michael Heim and Marie-Laure Ryan, have now begun to apply theories of cyperspace and virtuality to the literary text. If one considers the common romance motifs of magic, other worlds, the fair unknown, dream, game, and quest as literary forms of virtual reality and identity, this theoretical approach promises to have a considerable impact on medieval romance studies. We invite proposals for papers that will explore romance texts from the perspective of this new movement in critical theory.
Please note that the Medieval Romance Society is particularly interested in cross-cultural issues and romance; therefore, we welcome papers which examine medieval romance literature from any culture/language (English, Celtic, French, German, Italian, Spanish, etc.). We also welcome papers from scholars of all levels--from the graduate student to senior academic.
Papers are to be no more than 20 minutes. The deadline for receipt of abstracts is September 15, 2001. Please submit one-page abstracts (plus any requests for audio-visual equipment) via email, fax, or regular mail to:
Dr. Tamara F. O'Callaghan
Department of Literature & Language
Northern Kentucky University
Landrum 500
Highland Heights, KY 41099-1500
Fax: (859) 572-6093
The 37th International Congress will be held 2-5 May 2002. Please consult the website for the Congress for further information:
http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/37cfp/index.html