CFP Reminder:
We are looking for contributors for the Routledge Companion to the Literature of the U.S. South, which will offer forty-five (45) short articles by scholars from a wide range of backgrounds who are working in or tangential to the field of U.S. southern studies. The goal of the Companion is to create a multi-faceted conversation around a series of topics in U.S. southern studies, and to bring in the widest variety of perspectives possible to a general audience of both students and scholars. This proposed Companion incorporates the trends in the field from the past twenty years, but opens them up even further by highlighting the perspectives of a wide number of scholars, a mix of junior and senior scholars, and those directly in the field as well as those whose work is indirectly related. Building on the momentum of recent manifestos in the PMLA and Mississippi Quarterly journals that have called for radical reconceptions of the field of U.S. southern studies. The Companion will offer a comprehensive overview of the southern studies field, including a chronological history from the U.S. colonial era to the present day as well as theoretical touchstones, while also introducing new methods of reconceiving region and the U.S. South as inherently interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional.
We are looking for contributors for the Routledge Companion to the Literature of the U.S. South, which will offer forty-five (45) short articles by scholars from a wide range of backgrounds who are working in or tangential to the field of U.S. southern studies. The goal of the Companion is to create a multi-faceted conversation around a series of topics in U.S. southern studies, and to bring in the widest variety of perspectives possible to a general audience of both students and scholars. This proposed Companion incorporates the trends in the field from the past twenty years, but opens them up even further by highlighting the perspectives of a wide number of scholars, a mix of junior and senior scholars, and those directly in the field as well as those whose work is indirectly related. Building on the momentum of recent manifestos in the PMLA and Mississippi Quarterly journals that have called for radical reconceptions of the field of U.S. southern studies. The Companion will offer a comprehensive overview of the southern studies field, including a chronological history from the U.S. colonial era to the present day as well as theoretical touchstones, while also introducing new methods of reconceiving region and the U.S. South as inherently interdisciplinary and multi-dimensional.
The Companion will be organized into three categories. The “Foundations” section includes essays which cover literary movements, time periods, and chronological eras, such as Colonial Writing, the Harlem Renaissance, or the Postsouthern South. The “Touchstones” section includes essays on major topics and themes in southern literary studies, including genres, themes such as the Southern Gothic and Ecocriticism, and topics such as immigration, music, and activism. The final section, “Trajectories,” looks to the future of southern literary studies. While we have some topics we would like to have addressed in this section, such as new media and the urban south, we are actively seeking suggestions from contributors for topics that they would like to address in this section.
Please submit a short (200-300 word) proposal for an essay, in which you briefly explain the topic you would like to address, to Katie Burnett, Fisk University (kburnett@fisk.edu), Monica Miller, Middle Georgia State University (monica.miller@mga.edu), and Todd Hagstette, University of South Carolina Aiken (toddh@usca.edu).
You may suggest a topic for the “Trajectories” section, or you may choose a topic from this list to address:
Pre-Columbian Literature
The Harlem Renaissance
Jim Crow and the Civil Rights Era
Southern Cultural Studies
Slave Narratives
Pro-Slavery Writing
Poetry and Verse
Native Souths
Ecocriticism and the Environment
Appalachian Literature
Class and economics
Film
Southern Cityscapes
Afrofuturism
Multiethnic Souths
Hip-Hop and the South
In order to include a wide variety of essays, we are asking that you keep the essay around 1,500 words. In addition to the main essay, we’d also like for you to write a short (~500 words) an author or text that exemplifies this topic. Each section will have a short text or author spotlight that demonstrates, represents, or otherwise supplements the main essay.
This companion is aimed at a general academic audience: libraries, researchers, students, and instructors. The aim is to present a snapshot for researchers and professionals outside of the field, including the average undergraduate student and those with PhDs, while also offering a more expansive overview for those actively researching and writing in the field.
The deadline for proposals is December 1, 2019. If your proposal is accepted, the deadline for essays is November 1, 2020.
