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'The Culture of the Publisher's Series' conference, University of London, 18-19 October 2007. This major two-day conference aims to bring together international scholars from a wide range of disciplines – including literature, book history, library science, sociology, film, art history, gender and postcolonial studies - to examine the culture of the publisher’s series globally with the main objective of furthering our understanding of its historical, ideological, generic and geographical reach. For 300 years the culture of the publisher’s series has opened up new possibilities for authors, publishers, distributors and readers across the world, helping to establish a wide range of traditions from the establishment of national literary canons, through the export of nationalist agendas in colonial, postcolonial or wartime contexts, to the development of feminist lists, and profoundly influencing the kinds of literature taught to each generation of scholars. While some publishers’ series – particularly of ‘classics’ - have been investigated in depth, there have been few if any opportunities for the work of individual scholars on the wider series phenomenon to be placed in meaningful dialogue. This conference will be of crucial importance in bringing together a diverse range of scholars and disciplinary approaches in the consideration of this neglected field of study which is nonetheless emerging as central to an understanding of the circulation and control of print in the age of nationalism. Topics might include: the development of individual or linked publishers’ series anywhere in the world; the relationship of series to imprint; jacket design; the influence of changes in national and international copyright law; emergent readerships and genres worldwide; changes in production and transport methods; changing literacy rates; notions of literary taste; canon formation; education reform; social and political change; co-operation across different media.
We welcome paper proposals of no more than 300 words from both new and established scholars of any discipline. Send electronically please to both organisers at m.e.hammond@open.ac.uk and jr.spiers@virgin.net
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS: March 31st 2007
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