(Mis)appropriations: Shakespeare and the Politics of Literary Fashion

LSU EGSA Mardi Gras Conference on Language and Literature, Feb. 16-17, 2007
Lod Cook Alumni Center, Baton Rouge, LA

The 17th Annual EGSA Mardi Gras Conference is calling for papers that discuss the various appropriations of Shakespeare in the current literary milieu. Whether one talks about the universal choice of The Tempest by Postcolonial scholars and Atlanticists, or the tendency of Marxist scholars to concentrate on the political "histories," one notices, in literary studies, the privileging of certain texts, always from an ideological center. In accordance with the rules of fashion, moreover, many plays in Shakespeare's canon go unstudied in the university classroom, as other texts take their place.

This panel aims to examine the reasons behind the popularity of certain Shakespearean texts, and the de-privileging of others. More importantly, this panel proposes to examine the notion that certain ideological appropriations have fallen short of the historical context they claim to reestablish—and instead practice a less rigorous "history-lite."

A detailed 250-word abstract should be submitted by November 30, 2006, to Matthew Landers . Papers should be 15 minutes in length. Please submit your abstract in the body of your email. No attachments, please.

In case you were wondering, the Mardi Gras conference takes place during the weekend of Mardi Gras. Baton Rouge is 50 minutes from New Orleans, by car.