A panel proposal for NAVSA 2011, “Performance and Play”
Vanderbilt University, November 3-6, 2011
http://vanderbilt.edu/navsa
Digital Play and Deformance; or, Screwing Around with Victorian Literature
Is Victorian studies “ready to accept surfing and stumbling—screwing around, broadly understood—as a research methodology”? In “The Hermeneutics of Screwing Around,” Stephen Ramsay proposes a seriously playful attitude to the challenges and opportunities posed by super-abundant digitized resources, computing tools, and networked scholarly communication. Ramsay’s “screwmeneutical imperative” updates for the digital humanities what Jerome McGann and Lisa Samuels proposed in “Deformance and Interpretation,” moving modes of inquiry “beyond conceptual analysis into the kinds of knowledge involved in performative operations.” This panel invites theoretical and practical perspectives on performative, deformative, or “screwmeneutical” approaches to Victorian studies, particularly those involved with computing and digital media.
Submit proposals of no more than 500 words and a very brief statement of relevant experience (or a one-page CV) by February 21, 2011 to pfyfe@fsu.edu. Please note that, regardless of panel acceptance, all abstracts will be considered for the conference by the organizers.
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Paul Fyfe
Assistant Professor
English, History of Text Technologies
Florida State University
http://hott.fsu.edu