Center for Mark Twain Studies

Call for Papers

Elmira 2005: The Fifth International Conference on the State of Mark
Twain Studies

August 4-6, 2005


Conference CoChairs:

Conference Planning
Committee:

Dr. Michael Kiskis, Elmira College
Dr. Kerry Driscoll, Saint Joseph College
Dr. Thomas Quirk, University of Missouri
Dr. Charles Mitchell, Elmira College
Dr. Linda Morris, University of Davis, California
Gretchen Sharlow, Elmira College
Dr. Peter Stoneley, The Queen's University of Belfast
Mark Woodhouse, Elmira College

The Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies invites the submission
of eight-page, double-spaced manuscripts, in duplicate, suitable for
fifteen-minute presentations. Include a cover sheet stating the title of
the paper, your name, address, email address, and phone number. Also
enclose a one-paragraph abstract of your paper. Papers are invited on
the following topics:

Electronic and Digital Mark Twain - Papers focusing on the availability
and uses of electronic and digital resources in teaching or conducting
research on Twain.

Theorizing Mark Twain - Papers that make use of ideas, strategies, and
vocabularies derived from any branch of critical theory.

Domestic Mark Twain - Papers examining the role of domesticity in
Twain's work; Twain's houses; houses in Twain's writing; Twain's
household.

Polemical Mark Twain - Papers focusing on Twain as polemicist; the
polemic as form, style, humor, and temperament. Twain's social criticism
and anti imperialism.

Mark Twain's Reading - Papers concerning Twain as an avid and
inquisitive reader and the ways in which books entered into Twain's own
literary production.

Mark Twain's Biography or Autobiography - Papers focusing on new
approaches to Twain biography or to the problems and challenges of
reading, editing, or understanding the autobiographical material.

Mark Twain's Writing Friendships - Papers exploring how friendship is
constructed and represented by Twain and his contemporaries. What are
the cultural roles, qualities, and limits of Twain's friendships?

Mark Twain and the Assault of Laughter - Papers examining the role of
laughter in Twain's work; laughter as a subject in the humor; wit,
satire, or sardonic laughter.

Mark Twain and Spirituality - Papers examining Twain's relationship to
issues of faith and doubt, apostasy, sin or the afterlife, both in terms
of Christianity and other religious traditions.

Mark Twain and Women Writers - Papers exploring the literary or personal
relationships between Twain and women writers who were his
contemporaries.

Mark Twain and Indigenous Peoples - Papers examining Twain's attitudes
toward and literary representation of indigenous peoples in both his
fiction and non-fiction; papers addressing the responses of indigenous
people to Twain.

Mark Twain and the West - Papers focusing on Twain's Western writings
and their role in shaping the cultural mythology of the West; papers
exploring the West's role in shaping the mythology of Twain.

Mark Twain and the Metropolis - Twain lived in or visited nearly every
major city in the world. Papers are invited dealing with this dimension
of Twain's life and art.

Mark Twain at 70 - Papers examining Twain's life and changing
perspective as he approached his 70th year. Special attention to Twain
and his attitude toward and experience of aging and of his place in
literary, political, and cultural pantheons.

Mark Twain and Madness - Papers discussing madness, dysphoria, rage, and
mania in Twain's life and works.

Mark Twain and Drama - Papers examining aspects of Twain's published and
unpublished, finished and unfinished dramatic works

Mark Twain and Regionalism - Papers exploring Twain in the company of
regionalist writers; comparative papers are especially welcome.

Mark Twain and Performing Identity - Papers exploring performance and
the performative in Twain's writing and persona.

Mark Twain and Popular Culture - Papers examining Twain and the popular
culture of his time; papers examining Twain and popular culture up to
the present.

Mark Twain and Community - Papers examining Twain in relation to actual
communities such as Nook Farm, Elmira, or Hannibal, or in relation to
more conceptual communities such as the literary community, clubs, or
the community of journalists.

Mark Twain and War - Papers focusing on Mark Twain and the nature of
conflict, the character of the warrior, and the "isms" of warfare, i.e.,
imperialism, nationalism, and patriotism.

While papers addressing the issues identified above will be given
priority, papers offering other perspectives or approaches are welcome.
Papers will be juried without knowledge of authorship. Please send
papers in duplicate to:

Barbara Snedecor, Director
Center for Mark Twain Studies
Elmira College
One Park Place
Elmira, NY 14901
Deadline: November 30, 2004