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EVENT Mar 06
ABSTRACT Sep 30
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“Reader, I Met Him”: First Encounters in Fiction (NeMLA)

Philadelphia, PA
Organization: Northeast Modern Language Association
Event: NeMLA
Categories: Postcolonial, American, Hispanic & Latino, Comparative, Interdisciplinary, British, Popular Culture, Gender & Sexuality, Literary Theory, Women's Studies, World Literatures, African-American, Colonial, Revolution & Early National, Transcendentalists, 1865-1914, 20th & 21st Century, Medieval, Early Modern & Renaissance, Long 18th Century, Romantics, Victorian, 20th & 21st Century, Aesthetics, Anthropology/Sociology, Classical Studies, Cultural Studies, Environmental Studies, Film, TV, & Media, Food Studies, History, Philosophy, African & African Diasporas, Asian & Asian Diasporas, Australian Literature, Canadian Literature, Caribbean & Caribbean Diasporas, Indian Subcontinent, Eastern European, Mediterranean, Middle East, Native American, Scandinavian, Pacific Literature, Miscellaneous
Event Date: 2025-03-06 to 2025-03-09 Abstract Due: 2024-09-30

Near the end of Jane Eyre, the title character famously says, “Reader, I married him.” It is a wedding her readers have expected and waited for, yet it comes after a rather inauspicious first meeting.

Fiction is full of first meetings. While a relationship’s apex or culmination might often be most memorable to readers, the initial encounter is also of special interest and significance to the story. Papers for this panel will explore fictional (or nonfictional) first meetings or initial encounters. Presenters may discuss a first meeting in light of the dynamics of the relationship’s development and/or ending, or presenters may choose to do a close reading that does not take into account the relationship’s future.

Studies of novels, short stories, poems, nonfictional works, and film are welcome. Papers may reflect on, but are not limited to, the following interpretations of the first encounter:

Beginnings of romantic relationships or friendships

The meet cute

Reunions

First transactions in shady dealings

Meeting new neighbors

Birth/adoption of a child

Bringing home a pet

First meetings with teachers, coaches, therapists, spiritual guides, etc.

Meeting a hero or a celebrity

Meeting an enemy, nemesis, or rival

Conversations with strangers in public (stations, public transport, libraries, bars, city parks, etc.)

Meeting people in a new setting (school, workplace, prison, etc.)

The first in-person meeting of a relationship of correspondence

Abstracts are accepted through September 30, 2024. Please submit a 300-word abstract by September 30 to NeMLA’s online portal: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/CFP

The session number is #21046.

The 56th annual NeMLA convention will take place March 6-9, 2025 in Philadelphia. For more information on the conference and to view NeMLA’s guidelines for abstracts, visit https://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention.html

Questions regarding the panel may be addressed to Lori Newcomb, LoNewco1@wsc.edu

https://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention.html

LoNewco1@wsc.edu

Lori Newcomb