Hi everyone,
I'm posting a call for papers inviting contributions to a
volume of essays on Chandler and his impact/influence over
the past half century -- just in case there are any
academically-inclined folks on the list. I'm co-editing it w/
a colleague of mine from McGill U. in Montreal. --MDS
>From: "Miranda Hickman" <
mhickm1@po-box.mcgill.ca>
>To: <
cfp@dept.english.upenn.edu>
>Subject: CFP: Raymond Chandler (8/25 & 10/1;
collection)
>Date: Mon, 10 Jul 2000 10:01:19 -0500
>Sender:
owner-cfp@dept.english.upenn.edu
>
>"Neither Tarnished Nor Afraid": Raymond Chandler and
the Chandleresque
>
>Events of the past few years attest to a significant
revival of interest in
>Raymond Chandler: The Library of America has
published Chandler's complete
>works in two volumes; his letters have been
re-issued; an enhanced print of
>Howard Hawks' "The Big Sleep" has been released; and
Tom Hiney's new
>biography has appeared. Clearly, forty years after
his death, Chandler's
>work exerts a powerful hold on our cultural
imagination. This collection of
>essays traces Chandler's legacy in Western
culture-and
>considers what our latter-day preoccupations with
Chandler might reveal
>about the invisible desires of our
culture.
>
>In more than two decades of fiction- and
essay-writing, Chandler created a
>distinctively American literary aesthetic: a
fatalistic romanticism that has
>marked indelibly what we associate with the tradition
of the hard-boiled.
>He refined the prose of pulp predecessors like
Dashiell Hammett,
>foregrounding the interiority of his detective and
creating a world that,
>while fundamentally fallen, is partially (and
crucially) redeemed by the
>possibility of a lone hero, "neither tarnished nor
afraid," who can traverse
>it with honor. In part, Chandler's appeal arose from
his ability to
>negotiate skillfully between highbrow and pulp
registers, which in turn
>stemmed from a typically American defiance of the
divide between the two.
>
>Aimed at a broad academic audience, this collection
explores how and why
>Chandler's aesthetic force has persisted in Western
culture. Of what does
>that force consist, and what has it achieved? In what
forms has it
>survived, and what accounts for its survival?
Accordingly, we seek essays
>that consider the formation and/or the transmission
of the Chandleresque:
>how Chandler developed his signature style, and then
how the "Chandleresque"
>came to be appropriated, transmuted, and
disseminated.
>
>Although the study of detective fiction is a growing
field, it remains
>largely cordoned off from other fields of inquiry, as
well as ripe for
>further theorization. By examining how Chandler's
achievements inflected
>the work of later writers, artists and film
directors, our collection seeks
>to draw the field out of isolation; to consider its
history and development;
>and to address its place within the larger field of
cultural production.
>
>We currently have commitments from six scholars.
Ultimately, through
>attention to a variety of genres and media, the
essays in this collection
>will define the semantic range and impact of the
Chandleresque. Please
>send essays of approximately 6000 words or 25 pages
by October 1, 2000 to
>one of the addresses below. If you plan to
contribute, please send an
>e-mail message by August 25, 2000, indicating your
interest and describing
>your project in brief.
>
>Prof. Miranda B. Hickman
>Department of English
>853 Sherbrooke Street West
>Montreal, Quebec H3A 2T6 Canada
>
mhickm1@po-box.mcgill.ca
>
>or
>
>Prof. Michael Sharp
>Department of English
>State University of New York
>Binghamton, NY 13902-6000 U. S. A.
>
msharp@binghamton.edu
>
>
===============================================
> From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing
List
>
CFP@english.upenn.edu
> Full Information at
> http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/
> or write Erika Lin:
elin@english.upenn.edu
>
===============================================
>
Michael D. Sharp Assistant Professor Binghamton University
(SUNY) Department of English Binghamton, NY 13902-6000
(607) 777-2418
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