We are seeking papers for a panel to be held at the annual meeting of the Renaissance Society of America in New Orleans, March 22–24, 2018.
Abstracts due May 10, 2017.
The 18th century witnessed an explosion of writing by peasants and artisans, but when one looks to the 16th and early 17th centuries, one finds literary canons dominated by the nobility and those they patronized. The result is a warped picture of early modern culture as dominated by the wealthy and powerful and those who served their varied interests. But commoners also produced texts: Thomas Deloney, “the balleting silk-weaver,” Hans Sachs, the “shoemaker poet of Nuremberg,” Giambattista Casale, the carpenter turned chronicler—there were numerous 16th and 17th century artisans and peasants who took to writing.
This panel seeks papers about laborers (peasants, weavers, shoemakers, etc.) who also wrote even as they continued to identify themselves by their trade or economic status. We are especially interested in commoners who wrote not for elites but for other commoners. Papers on artisan or peasant writers from England or the continent are welcome as are papers which extend the discussion to Africa, the Americas, Asia, or Australia. Email abstract and short cv to Scott Oldenburg (Tulane University) by May 10: soldenbu@tulane.edu.
Source: RSA
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