Victorian Poetry and the Salon
Victorian Poetry
June 1, 2020
Linda K. Hughes and Phyllis Weliver invite abstracts for a special issue of Victorian Poetry on Victorian Poetry and the Salon for publication in Summer 2022.
This special issue of Victorian Poetry calls for papers that feature a range of approaches to poetry and the salon (historical practices, theoretical models, etc.), including pedagogical applications. Papers may consider topics such as:
- Was J.S. Mill right when he wrote that “eloquence is heard; poetry is overheard. [...] The peculiarity of poetry appears to us to lie in the poet’s utter unconsciousness of a listener”?
- What does it mean to pursue nineteenth-century poetry as a communal experience?
- How does live performance in an intimate setting interact with our embodied consideration and interpretation of Victorian poetry?
- Why situate Victorian poetry in terms of the location and identity of the salon(s)? Identifications of class, gender, religion, politics, etc. might be considered.
- What relation between song as written lyric (either read or recited) and song as a performance for voice and accompaniment develops in a salon?
- What new insights between music and poetry might emerge in the context of a salon?
- What is the role of sentiment and/or affect?
For consideration, please send an abstract of 500 words (maximum) and a 1-2 page cv by June 1, 2020. Please format as a single word document and deposit your submission in this google drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1YFvcMlotEbv_3hcP4Uab_g8MnKBk70Qe
The completed essays will be due April 2021, with the special issue to appear in Summer 2022.