American Literature 1870-Present (MLA 2021)

“Collection Cultures”: Midwest Modern Language Association Convention. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, November 4-7, 2021. The MMLA’s permanent section on American Literature After 1870 invites papers which, building on the conference theme, examine the topic of “cultures of collectivity” in American novels, poetry, and/or other kinds of texts, artwork, or cultural endeavors. Particularly invited are papers which explore cultures of collectors and collections. Such papers might explore collectors and collections as subjects in American literary works (collectors as characters or themes), as practices of literary curation (special collections, American literary anthologies), or as studies in communities of adoration/fandom (subcultural bonding over objects, art, or otherwise). How do these “collection cultures” intersect with other types of collectives? What aesthetic modes are associated with collection cultures, and what might they tell us about topics like American consumerism, democracy, inequality, race, globalization, gender, media and more?    

For consideration, please send an abstract of no more than 300 words and a brief CV to: najung@uwm.edu by April 20th, 2021. Include any AV requests. For more information about the MMLA convention, please see the organization’s website: https://www.luc.edu/mmla/