Historicizing Fat

A Special Session for the 2007 Annual Convention of the Modern Language Association

Papers are solicited which consider how fat been constructed in different historical periods. Papers might consider times in which fat was unmarked entirely, understood in other than pathologized terms, or alternatively, they might give a history to the category of “obesity.” I am interested in the way in which history, broadly understood, can be used to imagine and thus create alternatives to what sometimes seems like an all-too-oppressive present. As such, papers that reflect on the role history can play in creating a fat accepting community are especially welcome.

E-mail a one-page abstract with a short biography by 16 March 2007 to Elena Levy-Navarro at levye@uww.edu. You will be notified of your status by 1 April 2007. All participants must be members of the MLA before 7 April 2007. The MLA will be held in Chicago, IL from 27 Dec. – 30 Dec. 2007.

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Elena Levy-Navarro
Associate Professor
Program in English
University of Wisconsin at Whitewater
Whitewater, WI 53190
(262)472-5047 (tel.)
(262)472-1037 (fax)