American Literary History Now

Join us for a conference on American literary history to discuss origins, paradigms, and future directions of the field. The conference explores how the study of American literature has evolved in relation to its Cold War origins, its reinvention in response to the social movements of the 1960s and 1970s, and its reinvigoration through cultural studies. Leading figures present research on American literature from its inception to the present, staging a lively discussion about current critical challenges, approaches, and methods.

The conference is organized by Yogita Goyal, professor of English and African American studies at UCLA, and generously supported by the Luskin Endowment for Thought Leadership in the UCLA College.

Schedule

October 3
10-10.30
Welcome and Introductions
Dean Alexandra Minna Stern
Russ Castronovo and Yogita Goyal

Session 1
10.30-12.30
Chair: Nancy Martinez
10.30: Sean Teuton, “Primal Returns: Tribal Storytelling, Deep Reading, and the Rise of Native American Literature”
11.30: Sakiru Adebayo, “The Americanization of African Literature: A History”

Session 2
2-4
Chair: Uri McMillan
2: Sampada Aranke, “The Hammons Effect”
3: Lee Edelman, “The Hole in the Everything Bagel: Queerness, Blackness, and Other Catachreses of Multiversal Non-Singularity”

Reception
4-5.30
Faculty Lounge, 2nd floor, Kaplan Hall

October 4

Session 3
10.30-12.30
Chair: Aditya Bahl
10.30: Patricia Stuelke, “Dark Academia and the New Cultural Front”
11.30 : Francisco Robles, “Poetic Forms, Desert Time, and Desert Movements”

Session 4:
2-4
Chair: Jonathan Grossman
2: Sri Basu McCall, “Revolution’s Racial Masques”
3: Travis Foster, “Too Good to Live: Trans Feminine Children and the Sentimental Death Trap”

4-5.30
Closing Roundtable, led by American Literary History co-editors Russ Castronovo and Yogita Goyal; Assistant Editor Noah Terrell and Managing Editor Elijah Levine