Perhaps it was in 1991 when Clarence Thomas pointedly used the word "lynching" in a televised national forum. Perhaps it was in 1998 when headlines blared that James Byrd was dragged to death and decapitated on a road in Jasper, Texas. Perhaps it was in 2000 when the exhibit "Without Sancturary: Lynching Photography in America" became stunningly popular. It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment when it left the backburner of American consciousness, but in the 21st century, the theme of lynching is no longer a subject to be ignored. This anthology, "Spectacular Savagery," is being put together to explore the many ramifications of lynching, a communally sanctioned form of savagely exterminating the other that is often accomplished in social and spectacular display.

Proposals and papers exploring, but not limited to the following topics, are welcome: Lynching and Terror, Lynching and Newspapers, Lynching and Religion, Lynching and Sexuality, The Changing Definition of Lynching, Lynching in Antebellum America, Lynching and the Family, Lynching and Memory, Lynching and Identity, Lynching and the Gaze, Lynching and Masculinity, The Lynching of Women, The Lynching of Children, Lynching and Film, Lynching and Performance, Lynching and Democracy, Lynching and Resistance, The International Response to Lynching, Lynching and Travel, Lynching and the Grotesque, Lynching in the North, Lynching and the Immigrant Other, Lynching and the West, Lynching and the Visual Arts, Lynching in Literature, Lynching and Dance, Lynching and the Law. Please send completed papers (35 pages maximum) or proposals of approximately 500 words to: Barbara Lewis, bl3@is6.nyu.edu OR Dr. Barbara Lewis (contact information below). Proposals or papers are due by 5/1/2001. Early submissions welcome.