Call for Papers: Anniversary Symposium on the Works of Toni Morrison

Where: SÖDERTÖRN UNIVERSITY, STOCKHOLM
When: Friday October 18 - Saturday October 19, 2013.

This interdisciplinary two-day symposium celebrates the work of the Nobel Prize Laureate, Toni Morrison, and explores how Morrison's work was approached in 1993 and how it is approached today, twenty years after the Nobel prize. In her works, Morrison examines the question of African American identity, the physical and psychological scars left by slavery on the African American body, the development of male and female voices in post-slavery societies, and how the Self moves from objectification to achievement of agency. The symposium asks how 20th-century scholars have examined Morrison's works and how we, in 2013, still consider her work fundamental in studies concerned with African American, American, feminist, and contemporary issues. Researchers, postgraduate students and academic staff from different disciplines are invited to participate. We welcome papers conforming to 20 minutes oral presentation time, followed by 10 minutes of Q&A.

Suggested Themes: 

• Biblical Themes and Spirituality in the Works of Toni Morrison
• Celebrating Black Community in Morrison's Novels
• Critical Approaches to Toni Morrison's Latest Novels
• Ethics in Morrison's Fiction
• Representations of Making and Consuming Food in Morrison's Fiction
• Reclaiming African American History in Morrison's Novels
• Teaching Morrison - Didactic Perspectives
• The Impact of Morrison's Work on Other Works of Literature
• The Representation of the Body in Morrison's Fiction
• Toni Morrison's Literary Heritage

Please submit your abstract of max. 300 words and a short bio of max 50 words by 10 June 2013 to morrisonsymposium2013@yahoo.se. Notification of acceptance will be sent by 10 July 2013. Deadline for submissions of full paper: 1 September. Selected papers will be published in a peer-reviewed anthology in the Södertörn University English Studies Series.

Keynote Speaker:

• Dr. Mariangela Palladino, Research Fellow, The University of Coimbra

Conference Organizers:

• Kerstin Shands, Professor of English, Södertörn University, Stockholm
• Giulia Grillo Mikrut, PhD Candidate, University of Queensland, Australia

Steering Group:

• Kerstin Shands, Professor of English, Södertörn University, Stockholm
• Harriet Sharp, Associate Professor of English, Södertörn University, Stockholm
• Ulla Manns, Professor of Gender Studies, Södertörn University, Stockholm
• Giulia Grillo Mikrut, PhD Candidate, School of English, Media Studies, and Art History, University of Queensland, Australia
• Anthony Grooms, Professor of English and Interdisciplinary Studies at Kennesaw State University, Atlanta, USA
• Hilary Emmett, Lecturer in American Studies, University of East Anglia, UK

Conference fee of 2750 SEK to be paid at the latest by 30 July 2013. The conference fee includes conference materials, meals and refreshments. Please register for the conference no later than 30 July 2013 on the conference web site: www.sh.se/toni_morrison_symposiumFor further details please contact the conference organizers at: morrisonsymposium2013@yahoo.se