This special session on work in multi-ethnic literature of
the United States (co-sponsored by
MELUS) invites papers that explore work
as a component of identity formation, especially as it intersects with gender,
sexuality, race, ethnicity, cultural identity, and citizenship. In the spirit
of Moishe Postone’s antiproductivist Marxism, this panel is particularly
interested in papers that present a “critique
of labor in capitalism”
rather than a “critique of capitalism
from the standpoint of
labor.” While papers that engage with work broadly from the traditional Marxist
position are welcome, we are particularly excited about scholarship that
theorizes work itself. Additionally, we are interested in papers that expand
the definition of work, such as discussions of writing and artistry as work, or
consider understudied types of work like academic or managerial work. Papers
related to the conference theme “Translation in Action” are welcome, but direct
connection to the theme is not required.
As a panel for MELUS (The Society for the Study of
the Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States), its primary goal is to
advance ongoing critical conversations about the theoretical, historical,
literary, and cultural contexts of multi-ethnic literature, film, and other
kinds of texts. As such, this panel also encourages papers that engage a
variety of mediums, including film, television, graphic novels, poetry, drama,
painting, etc.
Some suggested topics include:
-
Anti-work literature
-
The multi-ethnic proletarian novel
-
Work in utopia/dystopia/fantasy/speculative
fiction
-
The artist as worker
-
Work and citizenship
-
Labor as art