Recent reconsiderations of African American literature in dialogue with print culture studies have been provocative, but scholarly attention has often remained focused on bound books. Black periodicals were the site of much of the richest African American textual work throughout the nineteenth century and well into the twentieth and so demand fuller attention. To explore possible methods, subjects, and questions surrounding a “new” sense of Black periodicals, the Research Society for American Periodicals will host a roundtable on “African American Periodicals: New Directions” at the American Literature Association meeting to be held in Boston, 23-26 May 2013.
Proposals from potential participants should outline brief (seven- or eight-minute) presentations that share information on a specific research project that is innovative in content, method, and/or archive. Ideally, the research presented should function as a case study that addresses some of the following questions. How might African American literary studies change, challenge, benefit, and benefit from dialogues with periodical studies—and vice versa? What kinds of scholarship on African American periodicals should be produced in the next five years? What archival work might be most beneficial? How might we assess extant resources in terms of value and accessibility? What inter- and cross-disciplinary approaches might prove especially effective?
One-page proposals (preferably in .docx, .doc, or .pdf) along with short bios or one-page CVs should be submitted to Eric Gardner at gardner@svsu.edu by 10 January 2013.
Please include “ALA: RSAP African American Periodicals” in the subject line. Presenters will need to be members of RSAP by 1 March 2013.