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Gaskell Project 2015:
Place, Progress, and Personhood
An Edited Collection
(Abstract Deadline:
31 October 2012)
Emily Morris
Sarina Gruver Moore
Lesa Scholl
Contact email: gaskellproject2015@gmail.com
In anticipation of the 150th anniversary of Gaskell’s death,
we are seeking abstracts for an edited volume on the subject of Place, Progress, and Personhood in the Works
of Elizabeth Gaskell. The nineteenth century saw dramatic changes in the
landscape of Britain as industry and technology reshaped the geographical
space. The advent of the railway and the increasing predominance of manufactory
machinery reoriented the nation’s physical and social countenance. But alongside
the excitement of progress and industry, there was also a sense of fear and loss
manifested through an idealisation of the country home, the pastoral retreat, and
the agricultural South. This collection of interdisciplinary essays will
present a variety of geographical, industrial, archeological, psychological, and
spatial perspectives not only on Gaskell’s work, but also on Gaskell’s place
within the narrative of British letters and national identity.
Gaskell’s importance, both as a literary figure and as a
cultural touchstone, continues to rise. In the popular imagination, new BBC
adaptations of her novels have perhaps given her the greatest celebrity she has
had since her own lifetime. In addition, the recent Heritage Lottery Fund award
of £1.85 million for the restoration and preservation of the Gaskells’ house in
Manchester, Plymouth Grove, indicates her renewed national influence.
This collection is very consciously an international and
egalitarian collaboration, and we invite scholars of any level or discipline to
submit an abstract.
Topics might include (but are not limited to):
- Geography / materiality of place
- Digital transformations of texts/mapping
- Concepts of home and not home
- Foreign places, travel, and national identity
- Rural vs. urban landscapes
- Ecology / environmentalism
- Imagined places
- Place and gender, the gendering of spaces
- Space theory and Victorian spaces
- Correspondence
- Landmarks of progress, modernity, and personal identity
- Gaskell’s place in the popular imagination/literary tourism
- Architectural spaces and everyday life
- Ideas of belonging
Please submit an abstract of 300-500 words and a brief CV
to gaskellproject2015@gmail.com by 31 October 2012. Authors will be
notified by 5 January 2013 whether or not their abstract has been accepted. The
deadline for the full-length article, if accepted, is 15 April 2013. Articles
should be between 4,000 and 6,000 words in length, accompanied by an abstract
of around 200 words.
Preliminary inquiries are welcome: kindly address them to gaskellproject2015@gmail.com.
Emily Morris
Department of English
St. Thomas More College, University of Saskatchewan
Canada
Sarina Gruver Moore
Department of English
Calvin College
Grand Rapids, Michigan
USA
Lesa Scholl
Dean of Academic Studies
Emmanuel College, University of Queensland
Australia
