Northeast Victorian Studies Association 2000 Conference
Call for Papers
VICTORIAN BREAKDOWNS
26th Annual Meeting: April 14-16, 2000
CUNY Graduate School,
New York, NY
What happened when Victorian things broke down? Or when Victorians broke
things down--analyzing, taxonomizing, categorizing--in order to master
complex phenomena? When and how did these Victorian attempts to break down
reality break down? When did Victorian breakdowns lead to breakthroughs--by
whom, and for whose benefit? At its 26th annual conference, NVSA
will consider the crucial mental and institutional breakings-down of reality
by which the Victorians organized their world, and the many forms of malfunctioning
that may have forced or encouraged them to rethink their paradigms. How
do paradoxes and complexities of "breakdown"--both the term and the concept--help
us map the constitutive fault lines of Victorian society? We welcome proposals
for papers examining specific instances of Victorian breakdown--as conceptualization,
calamity, exigency, and/or opportunity.
Possible topics include (but are not limited to):
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mechanical breakdowns, accidents, misfires.
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"nervous breakdown," hysteria, psychic or emotional breakdown, crises of
faith, "brain fever," "moral insanity," etc.
-
institutional or financial collapses (bankruptcies, stock crashes, etc.)
and their repercussions.
-
the breakdown (or break-up) of relationships, families, partnerships (divorces,
abandonments, fallings-out, etc.).
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physical breakdown: broken bones, injured bodies, fatigue, exhaustion.
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"breaking down the will": education, discipline, punishment.
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dead ends and failed experiments: in science and technology, religion and
philosophy, art and literature, politics and society.
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classification systems and their discontents: taxonomies, statistical analysis,
the emergence and delineation of disciplines.
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entropy.
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boundaries, material and ideological; border conflicts and disputes; negotiated
and liminal identities.
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the breakdown of old customs, hierarchies, privileges, ways of life, ways
of thinking.
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degeneration (of mind, body, species, race).
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fragments and fragmented experience; truncated texts, unfinished projects.
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periodization: the various forms of "past and present," their promises
and problems.
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conceptual breakdowns (in both senses).
Paper proposals (no more than two double-spaced pages) by Oct. 15, 1999,
to:
Professor Robert Jacklosky,
Department of English
College of Mount Saint Vincent
6301 Riverdale Avenue
Riverdale, New York 10471-1093.
Fax (attn: Rbt. Jacklosky): 718-405-3747
Phone: 718-405-3301.
Email: rjacklos@cmsv.edu
Please do not send complete papers. Please do not include your name
on your proposal; we review proposals anonymously. Please do include your
name, institutional and email addresses, and proposal title in the cover
letter that accompanies the proposal.
Finished papers should take 15-minutes (20 minutes maximum) so as to
provide ample time for discussion following each panel.
INVITATION TO ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION
In an attempt to allow more participation in the program, we are continuing
the popular roundtable discussions on pedagogy that we initiated three
years ago. This year we'd like to focus the discussion on PERIODIZATION
and the way that we approach or avoid the notion of the Victorian "period"
and Victorian sub periods (Hungry Forties, Early, Mid- and Late, etc.)
in our classrooms. If you'd like to make a presentation, please send a
note to Professor Paula Krebs, Department of English, Wheaton College,
Norton, Mass. 02766 (fax: (508) 286-8263; email: pkrebs@wheatonma.edu)
describing briefly (no more than one double-spaced page) the aspects of
pedagogy you'd like to share. Keep in mind that being a presenter means
creating an atmosphere for stimulating discussion rather than presenting
a paper.
The Coral Lansbury Travel Grant ($100.00) and George Ford Travel Grant
($100.00) given in memory of key founding members of NVSA, are awarded
annually to the graduate student, adjunct instructor, or independent scholar
who must travel the greatest distance to give a paper at our conference.
Apply by indicating that you wish to be considered in the cover letter
to your proposal. Mention, also, if you have other sources of funding.
NVSA MEMBERSHIP
All who wish to join NVSA or renew their membership, may do so by writing
to Professor Joan Dagle, Sec'y/Treas., NVSA, Dept. of English, Rhode Island
College, Providence, R.I. 02908. Enclose a check made out to NVSA for $15
(regular member) or $10 (student) and include their name, mailing and email
addresses and academic affliation. You are also welcome to visit the NVSA
list (NVSA-L) on email and the NVSA Home Page on the World Wide Web (http://fmc.utm.edu/nvsa).
The Web site offers items of interest to NVSA members. NVSA-L is a place
to summarize and share conference activities and logistics, and to conduct
NVSA business. It's used mainly around conference time, so don't worry
that it will cluttter up your mailboxes. To subscribe, send a message to
ListProc@utm.edu. Leave the subject line blank; on the message line write
SUB-NVSA-L, your first and last name.
Professor Rhoda L. Flaxman
President, NVSA
Department of English
Brown University, Box 1962
Providence, R.I. 02912
email: Rhoda_Flaxman@brown.edu
If you have any questions about the conference please contact Prof.
Rob Jacklosky (rjacklos@cmsv.edu).
http://fmc.utm.edu/nvsa/nvsa00cp.html