Centre for Studies in Literature (CSL)
Call for Papers
University of Portsmouth Centre for Studies in Literature
Annual Postgraduate Symposium
'Framing the Self: Anxieties of Identity in Literature & Culture, 1800 to the present day'
21st May 2010
Keynote speaker: Dr Sarah Churchwell (University of East Anglia)
Identity remains one of the most central and most contested concepts in circulation today. No individual or group can escape the question of identity in a range of categories be it gender, class, nationality or race. Yet, an understanding of one’s ‘self’ in relation to these somewhat rigid categories is problematic and as a result representations of identity are continually plagued by an irresolvable sense of unease and anxiety.
This symposium will provide a stimulating environment for postgraduate students and other researchers to present work and discuss key ideas centred on the anxieties of modern identity from the early nineteenth century to the present day. Although the symposium’s primary focus will be literature based, proposals are also welcome from postgraduates in related disciplines.
Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Memory and identity
- Gender, sexuality and identity
- Postcolonial identities
- Identity and consumerism
- Race, nation and identity
- Authorial identities: appropriation and rewriting
- Identity as ‘performance’
Abstracts of no more than 300 words for papers not exceeding 20 minutes should be submitted by 31st January 2010 to the organisers at: cslpgconf@port.ac.uk. Please include the title of your paper, your name, e-mail address, institutional affiliation, and any AV requirements.
The conference fee is £25.00 for all delegates. Registration forms will be available in due course.
If you have any queries or require further information, please e-mail the conference organisers, Jon Evans, Lisa Felstead and Katrina Morgan at: cslpgconf@port.ac.uk .