Eighteenth Century Mystery Fiction Panel
I offer below a slightly revised version of my original call for papers on
contemporary mystery fiction set in the c18. Despite the sprightly
discussion that followed my original CFP on this topic in August, I have
not received enough proposals for a panel. The deadline is two weeks away
... let me hear from you!
Several listers inquired if papers on novels from the c18 would be
appropriate for that panel. No--but thanks to the generous flexibility of
the WSECS organization, I am happy to announce a call for papers for a
second, complementary panel on "Mystery and Detection in Eighteenth-
Century Fiction." Particularly welcome are papers that examine how c18
novels may have begun to shape elements of plot, character, &c. that would
become conventions of the detective fiction genre in the later nineteenth
century.
The other panel, now renamed "Investigating the Eighteenth Century in
Historical Detective Fiction," seeks to address the following questions:
Why the recent surge in mystery fiction set in the long eighteenth
century? What does the trend suggest about the way in which "common
readers" perceive this period? What connections are novelists drawing
between contemporary and eighteenth-century social, moral, legal and
epistemological concerns? Do these books do justice to the period, or
misrepresent it? Papers on the detective careers of Sir John Fielding,
Samuel Johnson, Jane Austen, Benjamin Franklin, Judge Dee and other
historical figures who appear in serial mystery fiction are particularly
welcome; also of interest are papers on fictional eighteenth-century
detectives (e.g., Kate Ross's Julian Kestrel) or on more "mainstream"
mystery novels (e.g., _An Instance of the Fingerpost_ by Iain Pears).
For the topic of historical detective fiction, I would be delighted to
organize a conversation among panel members (and the audience), rather
than to offer formal presentation of research. If you would like to
participate in such a format, send me your proposal for a brief talk (5-10
minutes at most) designed to spark discussion.
Proposals for either panel should be sent to me at [log in to unmask] or
Department of English, Box 5335, Connecticut College, New London, CT 06320
by 15 October 1998.
Both panels, of course, will meet during the Western Society for
Eighteenth Century Studies conference in San Bernardino, CA, 19-21
February 1999.
Lisa Berglund
Department of English
Connecticut College
[log in to unmask]
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