Call for papers
Was nun? Future directions in teaching and researching women’s writing
Women Writers of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries Conference Series
Proposals are invited for a two-day conference to be held in Oxford, 5-6 September 2008. This conference is a continuation of the Women Writers of the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries conference series which started in the UK in the 1990s, and which has more recently been taking place in the United States. The event is jointly organised by the German Subfaculty, University of Oxford, and the German section at Birkbeck College, University of London.
Our aim at this conference is to take stock of how far research into German women’s writing of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries has come, examine the implicit assumptions which underlie our work, and discuss future directions it might take. We particularly welcome proposals for papers which take a broader and/or theoretical view, reflecting on the practice of researching and teaching women’s writing of this period. Proposals from critics of German women’s writing whose research field lies outside the period in question are also welcome.
Papers might address (but need not be limited to) one or more of the following questions:
- has the re-evaluation of women writers 1730-1914 involved a rethinking of questions of aesthetic value?
- has it influenced the way we study and teach literature, including literature by men, in other ways (e.g. as regards canon formation, periodization, the role of history and biography in literary interpretation)?
- which German women writers have been most ‘successfully’ rehabilitated? Why?
- with its focus on subversion, how has feminist criticism dealt with conservative women writers?
- how has research on German women’s writing 1730-1914 been influenced by and/or differed from research in other countries?
- is the unearthing of hitherto neglected early women writers still a priority for our research?
- to what extent does the study of women’s writing remain a predominantly female concern? Is this likely to change, and would it be beneficial if it did?
- to what extent has women’s writing of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries permeated university syllabi? Is there still a place for separate courses on women writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and for separate conferences and volumes? Has the time come for reintegration into “mainstream” Germanistik or is the case for positive action still strong?
Case studies of specific texts and/or authors which lend themselves to university syllabi are also welcome.
Papers should be no longer than 30 minutes and can be given in either English or German. Please send a 250-word abstract to both of the organisers, Anna Richards ([log in to unmask]) and Helen Fronius ([log in to unmask]) by 7 January 2008.
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