Location: The Ohio State University
Organization: English Graduate Organization

Anger is traditionally conceived as a contrary response to a negatively-perceived experience. Anger is an emotion that is acceptable for some and not others. For some, expressing anger can have a devastating impact on social, political, professional, and economic outcomes while it enables the successful outcomes of others. Moreover, it can function as an impetus for transformation or stall changes in culture.

Anger may color the actions of groups who strive for change. Particularly, in academia, anger and professionalism are often perceived as mutually exclusive. Calls for respectability and civility are often used to silence minority groups who express anger.

From protest movements associated with Black liberation and income inequality to political events such as the rise of Donald Trump and Britain’s exit from the European Union, anger has arguably propelled momentous change in recent world culture.

This conference seeks papers/presentations/performances from graduate students that explore manifestations, representations, experiences, and examples of anger in this particular cultural moment. We invite work that confronts all aspects of anger such as pettiness, hatred, contempt, and disdain in a variety of areas and fields (including, but not limited to literature, film, television, popular culture, and lived experience). Additionally, we would like to facilitate discussions on anger as a contested field, an area that is governed by numerous discourses which may converge in literary and non-literary texts, images, and scholarly debates.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

Anger and protest

Anger, revolution, and reformism

Un/righteous anger

Expressions of anger (and their limitations)

Representations of anger in media

Growth from anger; anger and optimism

Anger as a tool

Anger and stereotypes

Anger in the political sphere

Please submit your 250-300 word abstract as an email attachment to ego.osu@gmail.com by November 4, 2016. Please include “Submission: EGO Graduate Conference” in the subject line of your email. Submissions should include the title of the paper, the abstract, institutional affiliation, and a brief author bio. If you have any questions, please feel free to send them to the above email address as well.