Shakespeare at Large

HOT! HOT! HOT!

As usual, Shakespeare is HOT STUFF at the MLA convention, which is in LA-LA land for 2011. This is the forum for the newest, greatest, sexiest, most mind-blowing, ripped-muscled Shakespeare scholarship in the universe.* It's my pleasure to list this year's presentations:


Thursday, 06 January
23. The Afterlives of Ophelia
12:00 noon–1:15 p.m., Platinum Salon C, J. W. Marriott

A special session

Presiding: Kaara L. Peterson, Miami Univ., Oxford

1. “‘I’ve Got a Feeling for Ophelia’: Childhood and Performance,” Seth Lerer, Univ. of California, San Diego

2. “Unmasking Ophelia in Chinese Cinema,” Alexander C. Y. Huang, Penn State Univ., University Park

3. “Rebooting Ophelia,” Christy Desmet, Univ. of Georgia; Sujata Iyengar, Univ. of Georgia

Respondent: Coppélia Kahn, Brown Univ.

Friday, 07 January
223. Radical Temporalities in Shakespeare Studies
10:15–11:30 a.m., Atrium II, J. W. Marriott

A special session

Presiding: Hugh Grady, Arcadia Univ.

1. “The Shakespearean Future: A History,” Evelyn Gajowski, Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas

2. “Republican Shakespeare: Politics and Anachronisms in Julius Caesar,” Hugh Grady

3. “The Past and Future Present in Titus Andronicus,” Cary A. DiPietro, Univ. of Toronto, Mississauga

Friday, 07 January
314. Narrating Shakespeare’s Life
1:45–3:00 p.m., Platinum Salon D, J. W. Marriott

Program arranged by the Division on Shakespeare

Presiding: Katharine Eisaman Maus, Univ. of Virginia

1. “Shakespeare at Thirty,” David Riggs, Stanford Univ.

2. “Whose Life Is This Anyway?” Lois Potter, Univ. of Delaware, Newark

3. “Narrative and Experience: The Constraints of Coherence,” Stephen J. Greenblatt, Harvard Univ.

Saturday, 08 January
467. Shakespeare and Phenomenology
10:15–11:30 a.m., Olympic III, J. W. Marriott

A special session

Presiding: Michael L. Witmore, Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison

Speakers: Kevin Curran, Univ. of North Texas; Ken Jackson, Wayne State Univ.; James Kearney, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara; James A. Knapp, Eastern Michigan Univ.; Julia Reinhard Lupton, Univ. of California, Irvine

Respondent: Bruce R. Smith, Univ. of Southern California

Ten years after the emergence of historical phenomenology in Shakespeare studies, this session asks, What next? Through a series of short presentations on phenomenology and law, God, ethics, images, and things, this session will model new kinds of phenomenologically inflected critical thinking and new futures for Shakespeare studies.

For abstracts, visit http://www.thinkingwithshakespeare.org/

Sunday, 09 January
806. Maritime Shakespeare
1:45–3:00 p.m., Diamond Salon 7, J. W. Marriott

Program arranged by the Division on Shakespeare

Presiding: Laurie Shannon, Northwestern Univ.

1. “Anchoring the Real in Twelfth Night,” Barbara Fuchs, Univ. of California, Los Angeles

2. “Sea of Troubles: Oceanic Perturbation in Pericles,” Suparna Roychoudhury, Harvard Univ.

3. “The Hungry Ocean; or, What Cannot Be Avoided in Shakespeare,” Steven Roger Mentz, Saint John’s Univ., NY




*but not always