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45th Annual Convention,
Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
April 3-6, 2014
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Host: Susquehanna University
Clay Shirky argues in Cognitive Surplus (2010) that, “As long as the assumed purpose of media is to
allow ordinary people to consume professionally created material, the
proliferation of amateur-created stuff will seem incomprehensible” (19). Shirky’s
assessment offers one way of theorizing the longstanding dismissal of amateur
production as inferior and even damaging to the work of professionals. This
seminar will explore various ways of theorizing this dismissal, consider how
amateur production has contributed to cultural history, and imagine how it will
continue to shape culture in the digital age.
Encouraged by productive
seminars on amateur performance at NeMLA 2011 (Amateur Performance in the Long
Nineteenth Century) and 2012 (Methodologies of Amateur Theatre Studies), we are
proposing a third seminar session, this time seeking papers that respond to
and/or theorize amateur production across fields of art and science. Scholarly
conversations on amateur literature, journalism, film, fashion, design, science,
and sport have for the most part been confined to their respective disciplines.
This interdisciplinary session will expand and complicate these conversations
to consider the concept of the “amateur” on a larger scale, even in periods
before a person doing something “for the love of it” was referred to as an
amateur.
We encourage explorations
across periods: from nineteenth-century amateur scientists to authors of fan
fiction today, and from medieval folk ludi
and craft-guild theatre to the current trend in dad bands. Because the term “amateur”
has fluctuated in meaning and value in English from its emergence as a synonym
for nonprofessional in the late eighteenth century, proposals should address
how “amateur” will be defined in the paper and detail what constitutes “amateur
production” and/or an “amateur product” for the particular field and period
addressed. We also encourage papers addressing how professionally produced
media (novels, films, reviews, etc.) depict amateur productions.
This session will be run as a
seminar (papers circulated in advance with emphasis on discussion during the
session). Please send proposals of 250-500 words electronically (.doc) by September 30, 2013 to Mary Isbell (mary.isbell@gmail.com) and Robin C.
Whittaker (rwhit@stu.ca)
Please include with your
abstract:
Name and Affiliation
Email address
Postal address
Telephone number
A/V requirements (if any; $10
handling fee with registration)
