On Wed, Oct 2, 2019 at 6:37 PM Michael Torregrossa, Medieval in Popular
Culture <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> Hi.
>
> I'm new to the list. I'm a medievalist working primarily on the reception
> of the Arthurian legend in the post-medieval world. Some of my research has
> been devoted to adaptations of Twain's *Connecticut Yankee* in comics and
> on film/television.
>
> Recently, I've had a session on the general topic of "afterlives" of the
> novel approved for NeMLA, which meets next March in Boston.
>
> I have three proposals to date; however, one presenter has had to pull out
> due to a lack of funding, and I need to locate at least one more panelist
> (two more would be ideal) to complete the session.
>
> I'd appreciate the list's assistance in making the session a reality. The
> papers that are included so far are devoted to the *Connecticut Yankee
> *episodes
> of *MacGyver *and my own paper on comics versions of the novel/story. It
> would be great to have something on other types of illustrated texts, other
> film and television adaptations, and/or dramatic retellings.
>
> I append the full call below, and I do also welcome your suggestions for
> correctives to the observations included within it. I am also always on the
> lookout for examples of the novel's afterlife and any studies about it that
> I might have missed.
>
> Thanks for your help,
> Michael
>
>
> Call for Papers for Afterlives of *A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s
> Court*
>
> 51st Annual Convention of the Northeast Modern Language Association
>
> Boston Marriott Copley Place, in Boston, Massachusetts, from 5-8 March 2020
>
> DEADLINE EXTENDED: Paper abstracts are due by 7 October 2019
>
> Session organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, The Alliance for the Promotion
> of Research on the Matter of Britain
>
> Writer Mark Twain and illustrator Daniel Carter Beard’s *A Connecticut
> Yankee in King Arthur’s Court* (1889) has had a long history of adaptation
> in popular culture, but the full scope of its reception remains untold.
> There are, of course, the obvious texts, both in print and on film, that
> merely retell the story. Of these, more work is needed on the illustrative
> tradition. Along with retellings, there are also a small number of works
> that continue *Connecticut Yankee*. These appear entirely unknown to
> Twainians but offer a unique approach to the author’s legacy. More
> importantly, *Connecticut Yankee* itself or its story as mediated through
> one of its many retellings has also stimulated new narratives detached from
> Twain and Beard’s telling that recast characters and restage events. Also
> relatively unknown by scholars of the novel, these materials can be found
> throughout modern popular culture, and, although Elizabeth S. Sklar
> somewhat derisibly labels these as “spinoffs and ripoffs” of the novel,
> they are of value (as she suggests) and perhaps more so than the retellings
> because such items serve as the base for an extensive corpus of
> transformations of the novel that send various protagonists, all characters
> more familiar to contemporary readers and viewers than Twain’s Hank Morgan,
> into the medieval past and set a common pattern for time travel stories.
>
> In the end, this session will offer a broad view of adaptations of the
> *Connecticut
> Yankee* story to situate both retellings and the lesser known and/or
> hitherto unknown continuations and recastings into a new continuum to offer
> a more complete picture of the novel’s effect on popular culture and
> provide fresh insight into the various ways that the producers responsible
> for these re-imaginings have appropriated the story and its time-travel
> motif for their own purposes.
>
> This session is a paper panel in traditional format, which will include 3-4
> participants, reading a formal paper of 15-20 minutes (2500-3000 words) as
> set by the chair, followed by Q&A.
>
> The direct link for this session is
> https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/18029. Please contact the organizers
> at [log in to unmask] with any questions or concerns.
>
>
>
> Abstract submissions must be made through NeMLA’s official site. Applicants
> will need to login or create an account at
> https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/login. Submissions must begin with a
> paper title of not more than 100 characters (including spaces) and adhering
> to the following: capitalize titles by MLA formatting rules unless the
> title is in a language other than English; do not use quotation marks in
> the session title or abstract title itself but please use only single
> quotation marks around titles of short stories, poems, and similar short
> works; italicize the titles of long works mentioned in the paper title; and
> do not place a period at the end of the title. Submissions should also
> include an academic biography (usually transferred from your NeMLA profile)
> and a paper abstract of not more than 300 words; be sure to italicize or
> use quotation marks around titles according to MLA guidelines.
>
> Please be aware that NeMLA membership is not required to submit abstracts,
> but it is required to present at the convention. In addition, note that it
> is permissible to present on (1) a panel (or seminar) and (2) a roundtable
> or a creative session, but it is not permissible to present on a panel and
> a seminar (because both are paper-based), on two panels or two roundtables
> (because both would be the same type). Further information on these and
> other policies can be accessed at
> http://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention/callforpapers/submit.html.
>
> Chairs will confirm the acceptance of abstracts before 15 October 2019. At
> that time, applicants must confirm the panel on which they wish to
> participate. Convention registration/membership for 2019-2020 must be paid
> by 1 December 2019.
>
>
>
>
> --
> Michael A. Torregrossa, M.A.
>
>
> *Founder, The Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching
> of the Medieval in Popular Culture:
> https://medievalinpopularculture.blogspot.com/
>
> *Founder, The Alliance for the Promotion of Research on the Matter of
> Britain: https://kingarthurforever.blogspot.com/
>
> *Founder, Northeast Alliance for Scholarship on the Fantastic:
> https://northeastfantastic.blogspot.com/
>
> Area Chair, Monsters and the Monstrous Area, Northeast Popular
> Culture/American Culture Association:
> https://popularpreternaturaliana.blogspot.com/
>
> 34 Second Street
> Smithfield, RI 02917-3627
> United States of America
>