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The
aim of cultural studies is to situate the literary
text within the multivaried
phenomena of cultural context. It is to see the
text not
so much as a unique object, somehow separate
from
its socio/political/economic origins, but as touching
every level of the cultural fabric within which
it was created. As Catherine Gallagher and Stephen
Greenblatt
have written, the task of cultural criticism is “finding
the creative power that shapes literary works outside
the narrow boundaries in which it had hitherto
been located, as well as within those boundaries.”
While we often think of culture, both “high” and “low,” in
terms of the creations of language–from lyric poetry to locker-room
limericks, the visual arts—from Old Master paintings to subway graffiti,
and music—from
string quartets to rap, perhaps most abundant and having the most bearing
on how we live (and what we create) is the material world we often do
not see in “cultural” terms,
because we are so deeply embedded in it. This is the material way of
our lives, our homes, our clothes, our transportation, our work, our
sport,
our food and
drink. Each is a source of creative power and each is itself a product
of such power.
The world of Faulkner’s fiction is a world of material abundance,
intensified for readers by its relationship to the real world in which
Faulkner lived and
wrote and which he “translated” into “Yoknapatawpha.” The
2004 Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference will explore Faulkner’s
material world in its fictional and historical manifestations. Consider,
for example,
the significance of houses in Faulkner, from the Rowan Oak estate,
which he renovated and lived in for 30 years, to the homes of Sutpen
and McCaslin, McCallum and
Bundren. Or the importance of costume for this writer, who alternately
presented himself in the “dandy” garb of “Count No 'Count” and
the aristocratic hunting dress of Virginia, and described meticulously
the strangely contradictory clothing of Joe Christmas: trousers soiled
but sharply creased,
shirt soiled but white, “and he wore a tie and a stiffbrim straw
hat that was quite new, cocked at an angle arrogant and baleful above
his still
face.”
What do these material concerns tell us about Faulkner and his fiction?
What is the work and play of men and women in his world? What does
it mean to
be a planter or a sharecropper, a horse-trader or spinner of tales?
How do we read
the “shards of pottery and broken bottles and old brick” surrounding
the graves in “Pantaloon in Black,” the “hog-bone with blood meat
still on it” in “That Evening Sun,” the “graphophone” that
is the culminating prize at the end of the journey in As I Lay
Dying?
We are inviting both 50-minute plenary addresses and 15-minute papers for this
conference. Plenary papers consist of approximately 6,000 words and will be published
by the University Press of Mississippi. Conference papers consist of approximately
2,500 words and will be delivered at panel sessions.
For plenary
papers the 14th edition of the University of Chicago
Manual of Style should be used as a guide in preparing
manuscripts. Three
copies of manuscripts
must be submitted by January 15, 2004. Notification of selection
will be made by March 1, 2004. Authors whose papers
are selected for presentation
at the conference
and publication will receive (1) a waiver of the conference registration
fee and (2) lodging at the University Alumni House from Saturday,
July 24, through
Thursday, July 29.
For short papers, three copies of two-page abstracts must be submitted by January
15, 2004. Notification will be made by March 1, 2004. Authors whose papers are
selected for panel presentation will receive a waiver of the $275 conference
registration fee. In addition to commercial lodging, inexpensive dormitory rooms
are available.
All manuscripts and inquiries should be addressed to Donald Kartiganer,
Department of English, The University of Mississippi, University,
MS 38677. Telephone: 662-915-5793,
e-mail: dkartiga@olemiss.edu. Panel abstracts may be sent by e-mail
attachment; plenary manuscripts should only be sent by conventional
mail.
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Lounge
on Oxford’s Courthouse Square, from which William
Faulkner drew inspiration. Enjoy a picnic under the
ancient trees at his beloved family home, Rowan Oak.
Visit the Nobel Prize-winning writer’s church
and gravesite. And for five days, revel in the
wisdom of more than a dozen internationally known
scholars
at the 31st annual Faulkner and Yoknapatawpha Conference,
July 25-29, 2004.
“It’s
easy to attend,” said Carolyn Vance Smith of Natchez,
a longtime Elderhostel program provider and member
of the of the Center Advisory
Committee. “Just register through Elderhostel, an internationally
recognized leader in educational travel for adults 55 or older or traveling
with someone
55 or older. We’ll handle all arrangements for you.”
The 2004 conference will examine the theme “Faulkner and Material Culture.” Faulkner’s
life, home, clothes, transportation, work, sport, food, and drink were sources
and products of his creative power. “Whether you are a general reader
or a scholar, you will love these days on what Faulkner called his ‘postage
stamp of native soil,’” Smith said.
Special Elderhostel-only sessions will be led by Faulkner experts. To register,
call toll-free to Elderhostel headquarters in Boston (877-426-8056) and ask
for program number 5760-0725. The rate of $832 per person includes all conference
fees, four nights’ lodging at the Triplett Alumni Center Hotel (double
occupancy), all meals, and local transportation. A limited number of single-occupancy
rooms
are available at extra cost.
For more information, call Smith at 601-446-1208, e-mail her at carolyn.smith@colin.edu,
or check out the Web site www.elderhostel.org.
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