The MHRA Working Papers in the Humanities (http://www.mhra.org.uk/ojs/index.php/wph) is a new electronic publication forum intended to allow researchers to present initial findings or hypotheses such as might, at a more advanced stage, become eligible for publication in established scholarly journals. As such it will be of particular interest to postgraduate researchers, though established scholars are also invited to submit papers. Papers may come from any field in the “modern humanities”, which includes the modern and medieval languages, literatures, and cultures of Europe (including English and the Slavonic languages, and the cultures of the European diaspora). History, library studies, education and pedagogical subjects, and the medical application of linguistics are excluded.

Submissions for the first issue of the Working Papers, to be published in October 2006, are invited on any topic, but the editorial panel aims to choose half of the papers from submissions that relate to the theme of “Youth and Age”. Authors might consider, among other things: the cultural construction and symbolization of youth and age (e.g. notions of “young blood”, coming of age, seniority); the role these terms play in constructions of gender, ethnicity, etc.; the symbolization of political or artistic succession in terms of youth and age (e.g. “the old guard” / “young Turks”); and the privileging, in cultural discourses about generational succession, of the male “line” over female-female and mixed-gender relations. Authors may also want to dismantle the opposition youth / age to consider more complex models of life stages.

THE SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS 1ST MAY 2006.

Any questions can be directed to the editors at postgrads@mhra.org.uk

About the MHRA (www.mhra.org.uk):

The MHRA (Modern Humanities Research Association) plays a major role in promoting academic endeavor in the modern humanities by facilitating the publication of original scholarly work of the highest standard.

As well as publishing scholarly articles (in print and electronic form), the Association supports scholarly publishing projects including postgraduate work (http://www.mhra.org.uk/Membership/PostgradMembership.html). It plays a major role in peer review, maintaining the highest editorial standards and supporting breadth of approach.