CFP: Shakespeare and Utopia (RSA Boston 31 March-2 April 2016)

The 62nd Annual Meeting of the Renaissance Society of America, Boston, 31 March–2 April 2016.

This panel seeks papers that investigate the role of utopia in Shakespeare’s works. Whether that presence emerges as the influence of classical ideal spaces, the burgeoning potential of the new world as a utopia, or the political ideologies inspired by Thomas More’s Utopia (1516) at the start of the Renaissance in England, visions of utopia appear throughout in his plays and poems. Papers can discuss any aspect of utopia in Shakespeare’s texts, but in particular, should consider how Shakespeare’s texts contributed to the development of the Renaissance Utopia, or how Shakespeare’s idealized presence as international social and cultural icon influence our contemporary understanding of Utopian literature.

Please send abstracts for 20-minute papers to Delilah Bermudez Brataas (delilah.brataas@hist.no) by June 5 to be considered for inclusion. The RSA requires the following information: paper title, abstract (150-word maximum), 3-5 keywords; and one-page abbreviated CV (300-word maximum). Please note that the RSA limits word count and will not accept entries that go beyond the maximum limit.