2024 MLA Annual Convention – Forum "German to 1700" | Philadelphia (10.03.2023)

The Modern Language Association (MLA) will hold its 2024 Annual Convention in Philadelphia from 4 to 7 January, 2024.

Every year, the MLA Forum "German to 1700" hosts a series of panels dedicated to the field of Medieval and Early Modern German Studies. In order to foster transatlantic cooperation and partnership in Medieval and Early Modern Studies, we specifically welcome submissions from scholars outside of North America. We also strongly encourage graduate students to apply.

For the 2024 MLA Convention, we invite submissions to one of the following panels.

1. Open Session in Pre-Modern German Literature and Culture (Sponsored by LLC German to 1700)

We invite papers on current research in German literature or culture before 1700. We are particularly interested in research that poses questions, explores topics, or uses theoretical frameworks that foreground new directions in the field. Scholars of all disciplines (including, but not limited to, literature, history, art history, religion, music, gender studies, media studies), and at all stages of their careers are encouraged to submit.

Please send 150-word abstract, 50-word CV, and audio-visual requirements to Christian Schneider (christian.schneider@uni-osnabrueck.de) and Jonathan Martin (jsmart5@ilstu.edu) by March 10, 2023.

2. Innovations in the Visual in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries (Sponsored by LLC German to 1700)

The fifteenth and sixteenth centuries saw many innovations, for example in media, genre, language, knowledge, and iconography. These changes found expression both textually and visually. We seek papers exploring visual encounters between "old" and "new" in German-speaking Europe and beyond. Topics might include transitions between manuscript and print, or between old and new devotional practices; translations between Latin and vernaculars; the creation and revival of literary and visual genres; or depictions of the familiar and the novel.

Please send 150-word abstract, 50-word CV, and audio-visual requirements to Christian Schneider (christian.schneider@uni-osnabrueck.de) and Jonathan Martin (jsmart5@ilstu.edu) by March 10, 2023.

3. Multilingualism in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period (Sponsored by SGRABL, the Society for German Renaissance and Baroque Literature)

The premodern period was in many respects characterized by cross-linguistic transfer. Any Latinate person was at least bilingual, if not trilingual. Medieval and early modern authors who adapted or translated foreign-language texts into their native tongue knew two languages, often more. Travel brought medieval and early modern writers in contact with different cultural and linguistic contexts. We welcome papers that discuss instances and histories of bi- or multilingualism in the premodern world. Papers might explore examples of multilingual competence in the premodern period; multilingual writers' translingual and intercultural practices; reflections in works of art on multilingualism; theories and practices of foreign-language acquisition; the failing of interlingual communication because of language barriers, etc.

Please send 150-word abstract, 50-word CV, and audio-visual requirements to Christian Schneider (christian.schneider@uni-osnabrueck.de) and Jonathan Martin (jsmart5@ilstu.edu) by March 10, 2023.