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Langston Hughes Review

Guest Editor: Shane Graham
Expected Publication: (May) 2021

In June 1921, Crisis published Langston Hughes’ first adult poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers.” In many ways it contained the blueprint for the poet’s entire subsequent career, and established many of his key themes: black pride and self-assertion; the validation of Africa as spiritual force and ancestral homeland; black identity conceived as fluidly transnational and as formed by layers of history. The poem, and the body of work to follow it, were also enormously influential, not just to writers, but to visual artists, musicians, and performers across all media.

On the centenary of the poem’s publication, this special issue of Langston Hughes Review will take “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” as a focal point through which to assess Hughes’ legacy over the last hundred years, and evaluate the contemporary significance of his work as it enters its second century. Submissions to this issue need not focus exclusively on this single poem, but “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” should in some way serve as a launch pad or backdrop for larger considerations of Hughes’ work, influence, and legacy.

Possible topics and questions include but are not limited to:

• How is “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” and Hughes’ larger body of work, relevant in 2021 and beyond to black art and black lives, or to the United States, or to world literature and culture

• Feminist and/or Queer readings of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and Hughes’ larger body of work?

• How do the motifs, themes, and images in “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” echo, recur, and evolve throughout Hughes’ career as a poet, playwright, and fiction writer?

• Translations of “The Negro Speaks of Rivers” and other poems by Hughes into French, Spanish, German, Swedish, and/or other languages.

• The poem’s afterlives, e.g., Hughes’ writing a film script based on it for the American Film Center and the Rosenwald Fund in 1944; musical settings by Margaret Bonds and Sarah Stansil in 1942, and by Howard Swanson in 1949 (the latter sung by Marian Anderson at Carnegie Hall in 1950).

• Artworks in other media inspired by the poem and the poet, e.g., Houston Conwill’s Rivers at the Schomburg Center, and/or Willie Birch’s Harlem Timeline mosaic in the 135^th Street subway station of the 2/3 line in Harlem.

• In what ways has black music exemplified themes or aesthetics in Langston Hughes' poem "The Negro Speaks of Rivers"?

• Other writers’ riffs on the poem, e.g., Paule Marshall’s organizing her memoir Triangular Road around the chapter titles “I’ve known Rivers”; “I’ve known Seas”; “I’ve Known Oceans.”

Contributors are invited to send CVs and abstracts of 250-400 words to the guest editor, Shane Graham ([email protected]) and the editor, Tony Bolden ([email protected]) by January 31, 2020.

Contributors whose abstracts are selected for peer review will be asked to submit their essays of between 5000-7000 words by July 1, 2020.

Call for Papers: The 19^th Annual Conference of the Transatlantic Studies Association

Centre for International Studies, ISCTE-IUL, Lisbon

6-8 July 2020

The TSA is a broad network of scholars who use the ‘transatlantic’ as a frame of reference for their work in a variety of disciplines, including (but not limited to): history, politics and international relations, and literary studies. All transatlantic-themed paper and panel proposals from these and related disciplines are welcome.

The conference is organised around a number of subject themes, each of which is convened by members of the conference programme committee. If you would like to discuss your paper or panel proposal prior to submission, please contact the relevant programme committee members. This year’s subject themes are: 

1. Diplomatic and international history (David Ryan, [email protected]; Chris Jespersen, [email protected])
2. Political and intellectual history (Joe Renouard, [email protected]; Ana Monica Fonseca, [email protected]) 
3. Social, cultural and religious history (Kristin Cook, [email protected]; Constance Post, [email protected])
4. International Relations and Security Studies (Luís Rodrigues, [email protected]; Joe Renouard, [email protected])  
5. Literature, film, and theatre (Donna Gessell, [email protected]; Finn Pollard, [email protected])
6. Business and finance (Thomas Mills, [email protected]; António Monteiro, [email protected])
7. Latin America in a transatlantic context (Robert Howes, [email protected]; Pedro Seabra, [email protected])
8. Ethnicity, race and migration (Kristin Cook, [email protected]; Ana Lúcia Sá, [email protected])  

Special Subject Theme: "Mayflower 400: Atlantic Crossings"

The TSA is pleased to join the University of Plymouth, England in welcoming proposals that seek to place the Mayflower voyage within an Atlantic context, and that offer an opportunity to better understand, interrogate and develop the political, religious, scientific and economic forces which shaped the Atlantic world in this historical moment and beyond. In commemorating "Mayflower 400," we seek to uncover and enable voices and identities which forged, or were forged by, Atlantic crossings of many kinds. The 2020 TSA conference thus welcomes scholars focusing on the Mayflower voyage and its legacies, or on early America from historical/cultural/literary perspectives.

Other Formats

In addition to the subject themes above, we welcome papers and panels on any aspect of transatlantic studies. Interdisciplinary papers and panels are particularly welcome, as are innovative formats, such as roundtables, workshops or multimedia presentations.

Submission Instructions

Panel proposals should constitute three or four presenters and a Chair (as well as a discussant if desired). Panel proposals should be sent by email as one document attachment to [email protected] and include:

• 300-word overview of the panel theme;
• 300-word abstracts for each of the papers;
• 100-word author biographies;
• 2-page CVs for all participants.

The subject line of the email for panel proposals should read: ‘TSA Proposal-[Last name of panel convenor]-[Subject theme]’ (state ‘Other’ if not falling under listed themes) (E.g. ‘TSA Proposal-Smith-Diplomacy and International History’).

Individual paper proposals should be sent by email as one document attachment, and include:

• 300-word abstract for the paper
• 100-word author biography;
• 2-page CV.

The subject line of the email for paper proposals should read: ‘TSA Proposal-[Last name of presenter]-[Subject theme]’ (state ‘Other’ if not falling under listed themes) (E.g. ‘TSA Proposal-Smith-Other).

Travel Grants

The TSA particularly welcomes proposals from new members and junior scholars. Travel grants are available to support early career scholars presenting a paper at the conference. As a result of funding from the Halle Foundation, the TSA is able this year to offer a number of additional travel grants to support early career scholars presenting a paper on any aspect of relations between the United States and Germany.

If wishing to apply for a travel grant, applicants should indicate this in the body of the email when submitting their paper or panel. If papers are believed to qualify for Halle Foundation funding, this should be indicated. In addition to the materials requested above, travel grant applicants should include a brief statement explaining why it is important for them to attend the TSA conference, and an outline of the principal costs entailed. For further details about TSA travel grants, see the TSA website: www.transatlanticstudies.com.

Deadline for Panel and Paper Proposals: 27 January 2020

All paper and panel proposals, and travel grant applications, should be sent to the conference email: [email protected].

NB: The working language of the conference will be English.

Contact Details and Further Information

Chair of TSA: Christopher Jespersen ([email protected])

Vice-Chair of TSA: Thomas Mills ([email protected])

Secretary of TSA: Kristin Cook ([email protected])

Local Organiser: Luís Rodrigues ([email protected])

www.transatlanticstudies.com

Call for Contributions: Simone de Beauvoir: Decay and Renewal

A volume of essays edited by E. Nicole Meyer and Arline Cravens

As disaster, natural, political, social and other, dominate the thoughts of so many, we turn to a subtler aspect of Simone de Beauvoir’s writing. Our volume proposes to reflect upon decay within Beauvoir’s many writings. Decaying bodies, relationships, surroundings (domestic and urban), social and institutional structures infect her many writings. We invite essays that reflect on how decay appears within Simone de Beauvoir’s writings, how they treat decay. Do her works transform it into something other?  Can decay be thought of in a positive way? How does decay in Beauvoir lead to regeneration and potentially a rethinking of existential philosophy? In addition, questions of evolution, progression or renewal seem apt as another avenue. We wonder whether these discussions can go beyond this to a reworking of the grotesque / sublime relationship? Or, do the dark contours of decay add something to our reading of Beauvoir? How does her work rethink the body in relation to previous medical, literary or artistic works? Does decay correlate to the era of “post” such as Postfeminism or Posthumanism? How do her works foresee twenty-first century concerns? How would notions of decay enrich readings of her works in conjunction with the Résistance and the Occupation? We welcome readings of her texts in tandem with her own works, or in conjunction with other authors of the time period. What can we learn about our current concerns in reading Simone de Beauvoir from the lens of decay?

Given the plethora of concern for social issues from natural to social disasters, violence and strife, the increasingly interdisciplinary work being done, our theme seems particularly timely. Add to that, ageing and disintegrating academic institutions in which we work, scholarly production appears to be heading toward a darker vision of future literary production. This can be seen with literary prizes being given to works such as Philippe Lançon’s Le Lambeau. Historians, philosophers, and literary scholars are currently focusing on social decay from school shootings to anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ actions.

Our volume breaks new ground by rethinking themes that have intrigued Beauvoir scholars over the years. For instance, decay is a new prism for issues of mothering, ageing and death in her works. Our volume will include articles covering a wide array of her literary production as well as possibly her theoretical treatises. We may receive and thus consider articles more biographical in nature, if they shed new light on Beauvoir in an intriguing way that applies to our theme.

Submission Instructions:

Please submit your proposal (500 words, not including a brief working bibliography) to both E. Nicole Meyer ([email protected]) and Arline Cravens ([email protected]) by December 30, 2019.

To guarantee consideration for publication in this volume, submissions of abstracts must be received by December 30, 2019 to both co-editors. Final chapters would be invited for May 1, 2020.

Coeditors:

E. Nicole Meyer is Professor of French and Women’s and Gender Studies at Augusta University. Dr. Meyer’s current research focuses on Fractured Families in French Women’s autobiography and how those fractures erupt in the narration of women’s lives. This book project features Simone de Beauvoir. Her most recent book is the Rethinking the French Classroom: New Approaches to Teaching Contemporary French and Francophone Women, coedited with Joyce Johnston (Routledge, 2019)

Arline Cravens is Assistant Professor of French at St. Louis University. Dr. Cravens specializes in women writers and gender theory. Her most recent award-winning publication is a special volume on Virginie Despentes for The Rocky Mountain Review, coedited with Michèle Schaal (Spring 2018). Her work intersects in interesting ways with Simone de Beauvoir.

Call for Contributions: Rethinking the French Classroom: Innovative Approaches to Teaching Diversity and Inclusion

A volume of essays edited by E. Nicole Meyer and Eilene Hoft-March

This collection of essays will address how to make the French Studies classroom a welcoming, inclusive, and productive learning environment. The volume will explore all the pedagogical levers, innovations, and content at an educator’s disposal that can help increase diversity, inclusivity, tolerance, quality, and success in the French and Francophone classroom. We welcome essays that discuss course design, assignments, technologies, activities, and strategies that target any of the following in the French classroom:

• Provide content that affirms values of diversity, inclusiveness, and intersectionality.
• Incorporate issues of race, ethnicity, and gender in the classroom.
• Suggest approaches to invite perspectives of other underrepresented populations. Rethink terms related to diversity, inclusivity, identity, and being. For instance, how can multiple understandings promote better understanding of trans, gender identification, deadnaming, or other important concepts? How do the use and / or misuse of terms change our classroom?
• Propose new approaches to recognizing systemic racism, sexism, ableism, and unconscious bias.
• Promote interdisciplinary approaches and cross-disciplinary collaborations that extend the reach and impact of our courses.
• Encourage personal connection to the language and its many cultures as well as a sense of belonging to the language and cultures classroom.
• Promote among students an understanding of the challenges common to all learners of language and cultures.
• Ensure equitable interactions with students of varying linguistic abilities and cultural knowledge.
• Help students identify where they are on a language/culture-learning continuum in order to recognize gains already made as well as next steps in learning.
• Adapt assignments, activities, or strategies to allow all to succeed.
• Help students to produce and own knowledge about language and cultural issues

Our volume breaks new ground by rethinking essential issues that affect our students today. As the world around them erupts in violence against others, and hateful speech increases, our classes need new approaches to create a safe learning environment that includes all. Our volume will include articles covering a wide array of pedagogical and / or literary production as well as theoretical approaches. We may receive and thus consider articles diverse in nature, if they shed new light on teaching diversity, tolerance, and inclusivity in an intriguing way that applies to our theme.

Submission Instructions:

Please submit your proposal (500 words, not including a brief working bibliography) to both E. Nicole Meyer ([email protected]) and Eilene Hoft-March ([email protected]) by January 15, 2020. 

To guarantee consideration for publication in this volume, submissions of abstracts must be received by January 15, 2020 to both co-editors. Final essays (4,500 words maximum) would be invited for July 1, 2020.

Coeditors:

E. Nicole Meyer is Professor of French and Women’s and Gender Studies at Augusta University, Augusta Georgia. Dr. Meyer’s current research focuses on Fractured Families in French Women’s autobiography and how those fractures erupt in the narration of women’s lives. An additional book project features Simone de Beauvoir. Her most recent book is the Rethinking the French Classroom: New Approaches to Teaching Contemporary French and Francophone Women, coedited with Joyce Johnston (Routledge, 2019).

Eilene Hoft-March is Professor of French and the Milwaukee-Downer and College Endowment Association Professor in Liberal Studies at Lawrence University, Appleton, Wisconsin, where she teaches French and Francophone Studies, Gender Studies, and Global Studies. Her areas of research include French life-writing, issues of ethics, and the purposes of literature. Her current writing project is a foray into family biography that hovers between fiction and (problematic) history.