CFP: “The Imagist Revolution” MSA 17  

In critical appraisals of Imagism, the early 20^th century movement has often been portrayed as “revolutionary,” especially in terms of form and technique. In 1963, William Pratt described the emergence of Imagism in England and America as a “battle for a new poetic style” and Helen Carr’s 2009 history of the movement takes its title from the often invoked epithet of the Imagists: The Verse Revolutionaries; however, this panel seeks to interrogate just how revolutionary Imagist practice was in relation to contemporaneous poetry and poetic practice.

Possible topics include:

• The novelty and/or originality of Imagist poetry/poetic practice.
• The variety and diversityof Imagist practices.
• Rereading Imagism.
• The difficulty in delimiting and defining Imagist practice.
• The influences and/or legacies of Imagism.
• Imagist practice beyond the 1910s.
• The possible relationship between Imagist austerity or “hygiene”, as Hugh Kenner terms it, and revolutionary violence and war, what Marinetti refers to as “the world’s only hygiene”.
• Translating cultures through Imagist practice. (E.g. Greek in H.D., Japanese in Lowell and Pound, etc.)
• Imagism and potential appropriative violence.
• Imagism as an avant-garde.
• The “verse revolution” as expressed through Imagism.

Please send proposals (up to 300 words), along with a brief biography or curriculum vitae, to John Allaster (john.allaster@mail.mcgill.ca). We welcome proposals on any topic that relates to the revolutionary nature of Imagism. Submissions must be received no later than April 10^th, 2015.

Conference Location: Boston, MA, USA
Conference Starts: November 19, 2015
Conference Ends: November 22, 2015