CFP: ACLA Literature and Medicine panel

[Carl Fisher]

Dear Colleagues,

The deadline for submitting papers for the American
Comparative Literature Association conference, which will
be held in New Orleans April 1-4, 2010, has been extended
to Nov. 23. The following panel, “Gross Anatomy:
Intervention and Negotiation in Literary/Cultural
Representations of Medicine,” which I am co-organizing
with Marcelline Block, might be of interest to members of
this list. I have pasted the CFP below, and please
contact me if you have any questions.

Paper proposals need to be submitted at the conference
website (www.acla.org).

Best,

Carl Fisher
Professor and Department Chair
Comparative World Literature and Classics
California State University, Long Beach
_______________________________________________________________

Gross Anatomy: Intervention and Negotiation in
Literary/Cultural Representations of Medicine

Seminar Organizers: Carl Fisher, Cal State Long Beach;
Marcelline Block, Princeton University

Medicine and healthcare are central and universal human
experiences, and this panel will explore the sites, the
stakes, and the reception of medical representations,
which often paint with broad strokes the complex
relationship between health and illness, patients and
practitioners, medical ideals and practical realities, the
body and the self. Of particular interest are papers that
deal with the relationship between the microcosmic and the
macroscopic, individual autonomy and the social body, and
the anatomical landmarks which representation uses to
negotiate sensitive personal and cultural issues.

Papers can deal with single texts/authors or general
topics, and could include (but are not limited to) how
art, culture, and/or mass media variously represent
doctor-patient relations, public health concerns,
healthcare sites and circumstances, etiology and
treatment, crisis intervention, ethical boundaries,
disability issues, aging, and mental health concerns.
Representations across cultures, historical periods,
genres and disciplines are encouraged.