Reading Short Fiction in Transnational Contexts’
A conference of the European Network for Short Fiction Research
School of English, University of Dublin, Trinity College; School of English, Drama, and Film, University College Dublin
April 17-18, 2015
Much scholarly work has been done in recent years on the idea of transnationalism in literary studies, but the extent to which the term relates to works of short fiction has not yet received sustained scrutiny. This conference aims to address this scholarly lacuna with a series of lectures and panel discussions on a range of issues including (but not limited to) the following:
- The transnational origins of short fiction
- Short fiction between nations
- Short fiction and nation-building
- Short fiction and the idea of the nation
- Short fiction as transnational form
- Short fiction between national cultures
- Reading short fiction across nations
- Short fiction authors between states
- Short fiction and its international audiences
- Short fiction and issues in translation
- Short fiction and the nation state
- Short fiction and the transatlantic world
- Short fiction in Europe
- Short fiction and empire
- Short fiction and the gendering of nation
In addition to papers on these and other topics, the conference will include a panel discussion on the first five years of Best European Fiction, an annual anthology of short fiction in English (and translation into English) published by the Dalkey Archive Press. The conference will also include some readings by contemporary Irish short fiction writers.
300-word abstracts for 20-minute papers should be sent to ensfrdublin@gmail.com no later than midnight on the 1st of December 2014. Contributors should also send a short biographical note indicating institutional affiliation. A provisional conference programme will be announced in early January 2015.
It is envisaged that conference proceedings will be published as a special issue of the peer-reviewed journal Short Fiction in Theory and Practice: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=196/