The Long Nineteenth Century in Detail

This MLA panel examines the nature and function of the detail as an aesthetic, historical, or methodological category in the long nineteenth century. How does the long nineteenth century—a century of crowds and individuals; the Romantic lyric and the “loose, baggy monster” of the realist novel—represent or theorize the detail? What is the detail’s relation to the miniature, the specific, the unique, or the case as categories of analysis? When it comes to detail, how little is too little; how big too big; how close too close; how far too far? While the panel welcomes papers that treat detail and detailism as a spatial or temporal category, it is also interested in the detail as an aesthetic or critical category. What is the quantum level of literature or culture? How does the detail manifest or fade from sight? How do critical methodologies theorize the detail? Conversely, why does one care about details—the example, the case, or the close reading—in one's research? (Does one care?)

Papers need not be limited in their focus to the British Isles: transatlantic, American, colonial, or comparative subjects are welcome. In addition, papers that engage with methodological, critical, or theoretical approaches to the detail are strongly encouraged. For more information, including a list of possible subjects, please visit: http://mjphillips.github.io/blog/mla-2017-cfp/.

Proposals of no more than 300 words should be submitted by email to matthew.john.phillips@gmail.com. Please include a one-page CV with your proposal. The deadline for submissions is Monday, March 14, 2016. The panel will be part of the 2017 MLA Conference in Philadelphia, PA from January 5-8, 2017.