September 14-15, 2012
The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals (RSVP) will hold its annual conference at the University of Texas at Austin, September 14-15, 2012. While papers addressing any aspect of Victorian periodicals will be considered, RSVP particularly welcomes proposals for papers on the discourse of sentiment and sensation in the newspaper and periodical press that variously promoted or targeted readerships, established journalistic networks or brands, and shaped, responded to, and/or addressed cultural and ideological concerns.
Suggested themes include but are not limited to:
- The serialization of sensation fiction
- Sentimental or sensational illustration
- Major scandals, legal cases, crimes, or controversies
- Affect, cognition, and readerly sensations
- Sentimental poetry or fiction in periodicals
- The rhetoric of sentiment/sentimentality
- Sport or theatrical sensations
- Gender and periodical genres
- Entrepreneurialism and fame
- Sensational formatting and headlines
- The feeling of print or the materiality of periodicals
- Physiology and psychology in the press
Please e-mail two-page (maximum) proposals for individual presentations or panels of three to rs4vp.2012@gmail.com. Please include a one-page C.V. with relevant publications, teaching, and/or coursework. The deadline for submission of proposals is Feb. 1, 2012. Final papers should take 15 minutes (20 minutes maximum) to present.
The program will also include a plenary speech named in honor of Michael Wolff, a presentation by the winner of the 2012 Robert and Vineta Colby Scholarly Book Prize, and workshops devoted to digital resources and to methods of teaching periodicals.
RSVP will announce travel grants for a few graduate students presenting papers closer to the time of registration. Graduate students interested in applying for travel grants should include a cover letter explaining how their conference proposal fits into their long-term research plans
as well as any other special considerations. Recipients will be notified in the spring of 2012.
For information about local arrangements, check the RSVP conference website, http://rsvp2012.org, or contact Conference Chair Kathryn Ledbetter, Ledbetter@txstate.edu.