Session Information
Description: Panelists explore the role of literary nonsense and the absurd, seeking to offer a new interpretation of the genre. Issues addressed include political and artistic engagement, the limits of thought and language, the (un)translatability of nonsense, theories of nonsense across languages and cultures and in relation to recent trends in humanities research, and practical questions of the role of nonsense literature in education.
Related Material: For related material, visit mla.hcommons.org/groups/literary-criticism/forum/topic/cfp-mla-2019-chicago-reinterpreting-nonsense/
Presider
Radovan Skultety, National Taiwan U
Respondent
Brad Underwood, Duke U
Speakers
Brittany Roberts, U of California, Riverside
Sasha Patkin, Georgetown U
Kurt Beals, Washington U in St. Louis
Evelyn Shih, U of California, Berkeley
Gautam Basu Thakur, Boise State U