CALL FOR PAPERS
"Modernism and Mysterious Transmissions"

As modern technologies such as the telegraph, telephone and television transformed the dreams of seeing and hearing from a distance into reality, numerous scientists, authors and artists were drawn to the possibilities of other mysterious communications, whether with ghosts, or distant relatives, or simply with a person sitting across the room. It seemed possible that thoughts, memories and images really could be transmitted through "thin air," or through telepathic mediums, or through other mysterious media. How did such "mysterious transmissions" shape the work and ideas associated with "modernism"? How did modernist authors make sense of the new technological realities? How was "modernism" shaped by these "myseterious transmissions"?

This panel will focus on how modernist authors incorporated these new fantastical realities (or possibilities) into their work and thought. In my own paper I will discuss Freud's writings on telepathy, transference and the intergenerational transmission of memories. More specifically, I will focus on his telephonic metaphors. I am seeking other papers which could connect with my work, whether obviously or 'mysteriously.'

Because the official application to the MSA requires information about each panelist, please also send the following: a list of your "institutional affiliations, disciplines, positions or titles, and contact information" as well as a "brief (2-3 sentence) scholarly biography" of yourself.

Send this information and abstracts (max 1 page) to Eliza Slavet by April 30, 2005 (e-mail address follows).
Thank you!