'TENNYSON'S FUTURES', 27-28 MARCH 2009, ENGLISH FACULTY, UNIVERSITY
OF OXFORD
For I dipt into the future, far as human eye could see,
Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be.
-'Locksley Hall'
I remember once in London the realization coming over me, of the whole
of its
inhabitants lying horizontal a hundred years hence.
-Alfred Tennyson
Tennyson was acutely aware of his place in time, and the future, with
all of
the uncertainties and certainties that it holds, is one of the central
preoccupations of his poetry. The bicentenary of Tennyson's birth in
2009
provides an ideal opportunity to consider the poet's position both in
relation to
his future and to ours. This two-day conference will explore possible
future
directions in Tennyson studies and ask vital questions about Tennyson's
conception of and relationship to the future. How does Tennyson imagine
the
various futures that he describes in his poetry? How is his role as a
poet
affected by his need to look forward? How have later writers and artists
responded to Tennyson's work? And how might the emergence of new
critical
trends affect assessments of Tennyson in the future?
Speakers include:
Matthew Bevis, Matthew Campbell, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, Eric
Griffiths,
Samantha Matthews, Francis O'Gorman, Cornelia Pearsall, Seamus Perry,
Christopher Ricks, W. David Shaw, Nicholas Shrimpton, Helen Small,
Herbert F.
Tucker.
Registration for the conference is now open. For further information
about
registration, and about the conference meal and accommodation at
Brasenose
College, University of Oxford, please visit the conference website at
sites.google.com/site/tennysonsfutures or email
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