IALJS-13, Vienna, 17-19
May 2018
Panel Call
for Papers: The place of literary journalism in an age of populist nationalism
The rise of populist
nationalism in the world is a matter of concern for many scholars as citizens. This panel seeks to explore whether and how it concerns us, specifically, as scholars of literary journalism.
By populist nationalism
the panel has in mind developments such as the election of Donald Trump and revival of white nationalism in the US; the UK referendum vote to leave the EU; moves by Polish and Hungarian governments to control cultural organisations; the list is not exhaustive
and includes movements that identify as left as well as right. In all cases one encounters historical revisionism, the undermining of legal norms, and alliances with other authoritarian and populist regimes.
A working hypothesis
is that such events poses a specific challenge to the core projects of literary journalism or reportage which are to 1) negotiate a scrupulous relationship with truth claims; 2) make room for complexity in accounts of human motive; and 3) resist sentimentality
and myth in acknowledgements of subjectivity. The Columbia Journalism Review makes
an explicit link in a December 2016 article, ‘In a time of many questions, literary journalism provides an answer’.
The study of
literary journalism to date has included examination of how it has met the challenge of totalising authority in the past. From that, we have drawn theoretical lessons that enrich our understanding of the genre overall. The working hypothesis of this panel
is that those lessons arenot so theoretical any more,
and not in the past.
The panel for IALJS-13 might
consider (but is not restricted to) topics such as:
· The
insights that literary journalism might bring to an understanding of populist nationalism.
· The
role literary journalism plays now, compared to previous periods of social upheaval, with examples such as the New Journalism (in the US) or twentieth century reportage (Europe) in mind. What has changed, and to what effect?
· In
the former Soviet bloc, specifically, have past traditions in literary journalism influenced current practice? If so, how so?
· A
consideration of the ways in which literary journalism/reportage relates to other literary strategies adopted against totalising authority, now or in the past: for example the absurdist theatre of Havel and Ionesco.
· What
stances towards literary journalism can be detected in countries such as Russia and China which are a) perceived by other countries in their respective regions as imperial powers, and b) places where examination of the genre has not yet been prominent?
· What
place does social media and multimedia have in contributing to a literary journalism that examines nationalism and populism? In what way might those media make the job more difficult?
· What
exemplars of literary journalism are being produced now, which address the topics outlined here?
Please send me a short description
(50-100 words) of your proposed subject plus your name,affiliation and e-mail address, no later than November
1, 2017. Pre-deadline enquiries are welcome.