Call for Papers
In this conference, we aim to explore the neglected ‘opposite’ of sympathy: antipathy.
Sympathy has long been a focal point of Victorian studies, so much so that Carolyn Burdett
(2020) has recently asked with reference to George Eliot: ‘Is there anything left to say about sympathy
[…]?’ While sympathy in its various guises – as concept, feeling, intersubjective ideal, connection between characters, and ethical appeal to readers – has undoubtedly been a productive field of enquiry, this one-sided focus on sympathy in criticism carries the danger of overstating its role. Also referring to Eliot’s work, Rae Greiner points out that the ‘wealth of talk is disproportionate to the narrow fund of sympathy represented in [Eliot’s] novels’ (2009, 300). Besides sympathy, other, similarly important if less appealing, feelings and actions, including hatred and protracted conflict that may lead, in their extremes, to violence and murder, occupy a defining place in Victorian literature. This conference turns the spotlight on these various manifestations of antipathy in Victorian literature and culture to explore their literary and cultural significance, to determine their aesthetic implications, and to identify their progressive potential.
Please find the full Call for Papers here.
Programme
(Baden-Württemberg Stiftung, Kriegsbergstr. 42
| 4.30 | Nina Engelhardt (Stuttgart) & Anja Hartl (Konstanz), Welcome Address |
| 5.00-6.00 | KEYNOTE ADDRESS I Pamela Gilbert (University of Florida), “Antipathy, Hatred and Disgust” |
| 6.00-8.00 | Conference Warming / Reception |
(Literaturhaus, Breitscheidstraße 4)
| 9.00-10.30 |
PANEL I: ANTIPATHY AND GENDER IDENTITY |
| 10.30-11.00 | Coffee Break |
| 11.00-12.00 |
PANEL II: ANTIPATHY AND GENRE Will Abberley (Sussex), “The Ecopolitics of Disgust in John Ruskin’s Nature Writing” |
| 12.00-1.30 | Lunch Break |
| 1.30-2.30 | KEYNOTE ADDRESS II Zachary Samalin (New York University), “The Antagonistic Century” |
| 2.30-3.00 | Coffee Break |
| 3.00-4.30 |
PANEL III: ANTIPATHY AND CLASS IDENTITY Sophie Franklin (Tübingen), “Contagious Antipathy in Anne Brontë’s Agnes Grey” Carolin Sternberg (Vechta), “Pernicious Reading: Penny Dreadfuls between Popularity and Moral Panic” |
| 4.30-4.45 | Coffee Break |
| 4.45-5.45 | KEYNOTE ADDRESS III Tara MacDonald (University of Idaho), “Victorian Affect Aliens” |
| 7.30 | Conference Dinner |
(Literaturhaus, Breitscheidstraße 4)
| 9.00-10.30 | PANEL IV: VICTORIAN AND BEYOND Geoffrey Rodoreda (Stuttgart), “Restraint and the Colonised Other: Shifting Antipathies from Jane Eyre to Heart of Darkness” Julia Boll (Konstanz), “[sic]: Conrad’s N-Word and Ugly Feelings Past and Present” Viktoriya Sukovata (Kharkiv), “Victorian Antipathies in the Novels of Agatha Christie” |
| 10.30-11.00 | Coffee Break |
| 11.00-12.30 |
PANEL V: ASIA AND ANTIPATHY Atul V. Nair (Hyderabad), “Victorian Antipathies: Reporting the 1857 Uprising in Purna Banerjee (Kolkata), “Racial & Sexual Antipathies-Sympathies Contestations in Cross’ Anna Lombard” |
| 12.30-2.00 | Lunch Break |
| 2.00-3.00 | PANEL VI: ANTIPATHY AND RACIAL PREJUDICE Tim Sommer (Passau), “The Limits of Sympathy: Negative Affect and Victorian Negotiations of Racial Difference” Ge Tang (Melbourne), “Race, Victorian, Antipathy, and Emotional Practice” |
| 3.00-3.30 | Concluding Disccusion |
Keynote Speakers
Please find more information on the Keynote Speakers here.
Conference Guide
For more information on the Arrival, Logistics, and Locations, please refer to the Conference Guide.