Ben Robertson (Troy University)
bpro@****.com (Log-in to reveal)

From ghosts in Shakespeare’s plays to mysterious curses in the poetry of Tennyson, literary depictions of the supernatural provide important sites of division between the seen and the unseen. This panel will explore how authors from diverse cultural backgrounds leverage supernatural phenomena as critical components of their literary explorations of identity in the long nineteenth century. Ironically, that which is unseen often serves as a catalyst for transformative personal development that brings the unseen into the realm of the seen.

From ghosts in Shakespeare’s plays to mysterious curses in the poetry of Tennyson, literary depictions of the supernatural provide important sites of division between the seen and the unseen. This panel will explore how authors from diverse cultural backgrounds leverage supernatural phenomena as critical components of their literary explorations of identity in the long nineteenth century. Ironically, that which is unseen often serves as a catalyst for transformative personal development that brings the unseen into the realm of the seen.

This panel will focus the conference theme on supernatural phenomena as a means of engaging in the greater conference-level discussion about the seen and the unseen, either literal or figurative.

Possible topics might include (but are not necessarily limited to) the following: Ghosts, hauntings, spiritualism, supernatural/mythical creatures, prophecies, destiny, folklore, ancestral spirits, curses, adaptations, personal identity, revelations

This panel will include traditional academic papers for presentations of approximately 15 minutes each. Please submit abstracts of about 250 words by 31 August 2024. Questions may be addressed to Ben P. Robertson, Troy University, at bprobertson@troy.edu.