PFA2017

Call for Papers

CFP: The Ear of a Woman: Passive Female Audience in History and Literature:

An International Conference

11-12 April 2018

Venue: Djerba, Tunisia

Deadline for abstracts: 30 Nov. 2017

Call for Papers

The first Tunisian Association for Comparative Studies international conference invites proposals that explore history or literature for tales about Passive Female Audience. Why do men, asks Angus N. Wilson in his novel Scandal (1983), require the passive female audience, the ear of a woman? Why do men rehearse whole speeches in front of the bedroom looking-glass or keep their wives or girlfriends awake with rehashing cabinet meetings or repeating verbatim the telephone calls they had had one morning with constituents, civil servants, Treasury officials, and so forth? Is it to be simply congratulated? Or is there anything else? Is the need for the ear of a woman specific to particular men of a particular race, class, ethnic, religion? Do such women choose to play the passive audience for a purpose? Do they find pleasure in being the passive anti-heroes? Which passive female audience (mother, wife, sister, mistress/concubine, slave, student, friend, etc) do men prefer?

We welcome abstracts/proposals from scholars, academics, and graduate students and early submissions are greatly appreciated. Please send an abstract of no more than 250 words and a brief bio to Mrs. Cho Tess (chotess@yahoo.com).

Deadline for abstracts/proposals: 30 November 2017.

Authors of accepted proposals will be notified by 15 December 2017.

The scope of the conference focuses on, though by no means limited to, the following:

·         Passive female audience in history, literature, anthropology, sociology;

·         How and when is ‘the ear of a woman’ capital? 

·         Woman’s silence as ornament or decorative accessory;

·         Passive women’s aggressive silence;

·         Silence theory; theories about female passive audience (behaviour);

·         What can tales or reports about passive women tell or reveal about their writers?

·         Passive women in (or according to) religion;

·         For which audience are stories about passive women geared?

·         Passive women breaking silence;

·         Impact of passive women’s tales on young adult readers.

Conference organizer: Tunisian Association for Comparative Studies (TACOS)

Languages: English, French, or Arabic

Fees: 100 TND for local participants; 80 EUR for all other participants. The fees cover refreshments, lunches, dinners, one night accommodation for Tunisian participants (in one of Djerba hotels), two nights for international participants, and two copies of the conference proceedings for each participant. Unfortunately, TACOS cannot afford to cover travel expenses for the conference participants.    

Fees should be transferred to the following bank account by 31 Dec. 2017:

Bank Name: Attijari Bank Tunisia

IBAN: TN59 04004005002538384551

Swift Code (for transfers from outside Tunisia): BSTUTNTT

Papers presented at the conference will be published in a book with an ISBN number.

For more information on the Tunisian Association for Comparative Studies conference on Passive Female Audience, please contact Mrs. Cho Tess: chotess@yahoo.com.

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