Mary Grabar, Unlimited

MORE CRIMES AGAINST LITERATURE

It used to be that people in my profession focused on the writing. Who cared if Willa Cather was gay? Who cared if the professor was gay? Who cared if you, the student, were gay?

But not any more.

Now the focus is on oneself, to add support to Tammy Bruce's contention, noted in my previous post.

And if you can get through the drivel of this "call for papers" posting to the end, note the "peers busy studying Chaucer and Milton." You've got to be kidding! The calls for papers is replete with such curriculum-boosting pseudo-scholarship by which one can get the next fluff job where he/she throws all the nuances of his/her sex life into the faces of innocent students while masquerading as a lit professor. Ple-e-e-ase! How many departments still even offer seminars on the dead straight white male Christian, John Milton? The feminists have just about succeeded in demolishing his reputation and eliminating him from the curriculum.

From: http://us.f602.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=owner-cfp@lists.sas.upenn.edu&YY=55030&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b on behalf of M.J. WalkerSent: Fri 8/25/2006 2:41 AMTo: http://us.f602.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=cfp@english.upenn.edu&YY=55030&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=bSubject: CFP: Graduating Gender: Queer Grad Students Reading Culture (2/30/07; collection)"Graduating Gender: Queer Grad Students Reading Culture."I am seeking submissions for an edited collection of graduate student essayson queer/trans theory, gender issues, and cultural studies. This collectionwill focus particularly on the unique role that LGBT grad students play inthe analysis of culture, the various roles and spaces (including spaces ofexile) that they inhabit within the academy, and the anxiety of studyingqueer texts within 'straight' English and Comparative Lit departments. Whatis it like to be 'the only gay in the village,' the sole queer grad studentwho must 'represent' politically within a department? What types of queergraduate communities exist, either in metropolitan or rural universities,and what happens when a gay, bi, or trans student simply wants to write oncanonical texts (or only wants to write on queer theory when his/her peersare busy studying Chaucer and Milton?)All submissions should keep these questions in mind, and autobiographicaland personal-inflected essays are strongly encouraged. The collection aimsto present evocative, precise, and sharp readings of contemporary culturaltexts (novels, poetry, film, tv) from LGBT grad students, especially thoseworking within English, CompLit, and Women's Studies departments, althoughsubmissions from other disciplines will be considered. Each article shouldhave a solid theoretical basis, and should interrogate specific literary orcinematic works, but should also be written as much as possible from apersonal perspective. How is your work different because of your in-betweenstatus as a grad student, because of your various experiences withindepartments that may be either magnanimous, neutral, or outright hostile toyour sexuality or gender? What would you say if there were no rules, nocommittees, no supervisors, and no boundaries--what would you say, and why?I would like to receive abstracts by Feb 30, 2007 at the latest, although ifthere is considerable interest I will extend the deadline. Please enclose acurrent CV as well as a brief bio. If you feel that your work isparticularly controversial, and fear that it might even jeopardize futurejob prospects or relations with your department (as all great work probablywill), you are welcome to publish under a first name, pseudonym, or simplyto include no specific information about your institution.Email submissions to: http://us.f602.mail.yahoo.com/ym/Compose?To=graduating_gender@hotmail.com&YY=55030&y5beta=yes&y5beta=yes&order=down&sort=date&pos=0&view=a&head=b(graduating_gender_at_hotmail.com). Please use .rtf files for yourattachments, as they are much smaller and easier to view on both mac and pc.You will be notified that your submission has been received, and I should beable to let everyone know a month after the deadline (Mar 30/07) whichabstracts have been accepted. I have a publisher in mind, and will contactthem with a proposal once all of the abstracts have been received. Sinceuniversity publishers are often back-logged, the collection will probably goto press in late-2008, possibly even early-2009. Keep this in mind,especially if you are looking to publish right away, since these projectstake time to develop. I will keep everyone posted as things develop.Best wishesM.J. WalkerDoctoral Candidate and Instructor, Comparative Literature