Margins of King Arthur’s World (2)

Again, unfortunately the deadline has now passed.

Call for Submissions: On the Margins of King Arthur’s World (Edited Collection)
Publication Date: 2012-11-01
Date Submitted: 2012-10-24
Announcement ID: 198216 (at H-Announce)


King Arthur was one of the central figures in medieval European literature and continues to enthrall readers and researchers today. From its inception, the legend of the once and future king has incorporated characters, motifs, and settings from various sources as it expanded and evolved, but many of those expansions have, in the main, been neglected by scholars. In an essay on the state of Arthurian scholarship in the 21st century, eminent medievalist Norris J. Lacy laments the tendency of scholars to focus on “the same old texts” of the Arthurian canon; for example, he notes that in the final decades of the 20th century, an average of one study per year dealt with French texts written after those of Chrétien de Troyes, whereas Chrétien’s works were the subject of an average of 66 studies per year. “Obviously,” he states, “however much we may talk about expanding or exploding the canon, there has been at best only a very modest increase in attention given to what we apparently persist in considering minor romances.” We are therefore planning an edited collection that demonstrates the benefits of redirecting our gaze from the center to the margins. We welcome proposals from scholars in all disciplines on any aspect of the Arthurian margins in the Middle Ages, including real and imagined geography; borderlands between the secular, the sacred and the supernatural; displaced, non-human and marginal figures; lesser-known texts; manuscript marginalia and illustrations; etc.

If you are interested in contributing to this collection, please submit a 1-2 page abstract with a preliminary bibliography to both editors (Dr. Tara Foster and Dr. Jon Sherman; tafoster@nmu.edu, jsherman@nmu.edu) by November 1, 2012. We will respond to all submissions by December 1, 2012. Essays should be 7,000-10,000 words in length (including references) and the first draft is due June 15, 2013.

We are also seeking participants for our seminar on the same theme at this year’s American Comparative Literature Association conference. While the volume will focus solely on medieval works, the ACLA seminar is open to works from all time periods. Papers for the seminar might therefore include modern adaptations; marginal media such as graphic novels, videogames, or television adaptations; etc. The ACLA conference will take place in Toronto, Canada on April 4-7, 2013. Abstracts of 250-300 words are due by November 1, and should be submitted on the ACLA website (http://www.acla.org/acla2013/). Abstracts will be reviewed and the ACLA seminar panel will be finalized by November 15, 2012.

Tara Foster
Northern Michigan University
906-227-1814
Email: tafoster@nmu.edu