Still Greek to Us: Greek Myth and 21st-century Literature (NeMLA 2021)

Stories from ancient Greek myths dot the literary landscape of the early 21st century. To some extent, this has been the result of deliberate planning, as when Canongate began publishing a series of mythological retellings by well-known authors in 2005. But alongside and independent of such coordinated efforts to keep old tales alive for contemporary audiences, offerings from both established authors (David Malouf, Barry Unsworth, Colm Toibin, Pat Barker) and successful newcomers (Madeline Miller, Daisy Johnson) have likewise retold and reimagined mythical narratives in recent years.

The ubiquity of Greek myths in contemporary literature raises larger questions that panelists are encouraged to consider. For instance, what explains the current fascination with mythical tales, generally, and Greek myths in particular? If some stories, such as tales related to the Trojan War, are arguably being told more often now than at any other time what does that say about either the stories’ power to speak to contemporary concerns or the international audiences that continue to provide a market for them? 

Of course, the current proliferation of retellings of Greek myths cannot be separated from a wider cultural context in which, as Linda Hutcheon and others have noted, adaptation has become a norm. But in the case of Greek myths, can their retellings simply and comfortably be understood within a paradigm of postmodern pastiche and textual play, or does the continuing interest in retelling these stories resemble modernist projects of a century ago, shoring particular mythological fragments against a broader postmodern ruin?

Welcoming proposals from a variety of perspectives (national, postcolonial, feminist, etc.), this panel seeks to set works in dialogue with each other to better understand the current resurgence in appetite for the myths of ancient Greece.

Direct link to this panel: https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/18867

Please submit abstracts online via the NeMLA portal: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/CFP