The Research Society for Victorian Periodicals (RSVP) and the Scottish Centre for Victorian and Neo-Victorian Studies (SCVS) presents
Four Nations and Beyond:
Periodical Studies and National Identities in the British Isles and Ireland
Trades Hall, Glasgow
20 May 2022
This one-day workshop will explore how Victorian periodical and newspaper cultures operated in the different nations of the British Isles and Ireland, and in their diaspora cultures that emerged through emigration and imperialism. We hope to interrogate how periodicals constructed Irish, Scottish and Welsh identities, in relation to or in opposition to a range of ‘English’ identities, as well as examining how such English identities were unmade and remade in coeval relation with the neighbouring countries it governed. We welcome papers that investigate whether and how distinctive periodical cultures emerged in Ireland, Scotland and Wales, or in relation to English sites outside London and its environs. Were there distinct English regional identities centred on, for instance, Cornwall, Yorkshire, or the England-Wales or England-Scotland border areas?
Our inclusion of ‘beyond’ in the title speaks to ongoing interest in periodicals and newspapers in settler cultures and diasporic communities: how were these identities constructed outside Britain and Ireland in relation to indigenous cultures and other immigrant cultures? We ask too how transimperial dynamics put pressure on the ways in which globally circulating English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh periodicals articulate conceptions of the nation that ‘seem to cohere along a continuum that fuses a geoethnically bound sense of place with time’ (Sukanya Banerjee).
We are especially interested in exploring the still underexamined aspects of linguistic distinctiveness and papers centred on Welsh, Irish, Scots, Gaelic, Ulster-Scots, Manx or English regional dialects are encouraged. Proposals that focus on an individual publication, or that reflect on periodical or newspaper culture more broadly—including reflecting on the usefulness or otherwise of the ‘four nations’ as a concept and frame within Victorian periodical studies as we continue to widen our understanding of what we mean by ‘Victorian’—are also welcome.
A One-Day Conference in Glasgow
We anticipate that this workshop will take place in person in the Trades Hall in Glasgow city centre, conforming to guidelines and best practice in relation to social distancing and other regulations. We will provide opportunities to participate remotely, and will make linked content available online. Please signal in your submission if you would not be able to attend in person.
Registration for the workshop is funded by the SCVS at the University of Strathclyde and will be free up to a maximum of 30 participants.
Travel Bursaries Available
RSVP will award five travel bursaries of £200 for PG/ECR/Independent Scholar participants who do not have other access to institutional funding. If you would like to apply for these bursaries, please state so in your submission.
Proposals Now Accepted Through 18 March 2022
Proposals should be emailed to 4nationsandbeyond@gmail.com and should consist of a 250 word abstract and a 5-line biography. The deadline for proposals is Friday, 18 March 2022. Participants will be notified shortly thereafter.
We encourage advance submission of your presentation as a recorded presentation (max. 15 minutes) or draft paper (max. 2,500 words) so it can be shared with registered participants who are not attending in person (should there be any issues on the day with online streaming). Pre-submissions should be received by 6 May 2022.
Kirstie Blair, University of Strathclyde
Fionnuala Dillane, on behalf of RSVP