ROMANTIC INTERACTIONS CONFERENCE
JAGIELLONIAN UNIVERSITY IN KRAKOW
4-5 APRIL 2019
CALL FOR PAPERS
Great spirits now on earth are sojourning’, wrote Keats in 1816. While his sonnet celebrates the originality of his contemporaries and the historical significance of his times, it also points to deep interest in ‘the hum of mighty works’ in all the fields of human activity – to which “the nations” ought to listen. In her book Romantic Interactions, Susan Wolfson defines ‘interaction’ as the way in which writers define themselves as ‘authors’ in relation to other authors. Although Romantic writers tend to assert their individuality, this assertion often takes the form of positioning themselves in connection to other authors and literary texts. Keats’s poem suggests not only interactions between poets, artists and social thinkers in the same language, but also the idea of international appreciation and interaction.
Our conference builds on Wolfson’s idea by broadening the subject to explore the interactions of Romantic authors within the wider scope of European and American culture. We are interested in exploring Romantic writers’ interactions with their contemporaries, the culture of the past, and across the arts and sciences.
Submissions:
We welcome papers on various forms of interactions which involve the production and reception of literary texts in the Romantic period. Papers may explore topics including, but not limited to:
- Literary ‘interactions’ among Romantic writers; interactions between poetry and fiction
- Interactions with the culture of the past
- Intercultural interactions
- Transatlantic interactions
- Intertextuality, influence, anxiety of influence
- Interactions across the arts, and across the arts and sciences
- Romantic afterlives
We invite submissions in the following formats:
- Proposals for 20-minute individual papers (250 - 300 words) by 7 January 2019. Applicants should include a brief biographical note of up to 150 words.
- Proposals for complete sessions of three 20-minute papers (250-300 word abstracts for each paper with a brief rationale for the session) by 7 January 2019.
Submissions should be sent to: romantic.interactions@gmail.com
Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by 15 January 2019.