The CEA Forum
Winter/Spring 2005: 34.1
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Note to readers: The 2004 CEA Annual Conference, held in Richmond, VA, was a great success in large part thanks to the efforts of Dean Baldwin, then Program Chair and now Past President. As we look forward to the 2006 Conference, it is worth considering Professor Baldwin's reflections on planning such an important event, and remembering and appreciating the crucial role the annual gatherings play in sustaining the CEA community.
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PROGRAM CHAIR'S REPORT ON THE RICHMOND CONVENTION:
IS THERE, SHOULD THERE BE, A NEW AESTHETICISM?
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“It worked!”
That was my first reaction while traveling home from Richmond on April 3, tired but exhilarated by the events of the past three days. It had all gone more or less according to plan, and with the help of the other members of the Board, and especially Bob Hoskins, Joan Frederick, and Joe Pestino, the physical arrangements, audio-visual needs, last minute requests, and minor emergencies had all been dealt with. The hotel had turned out to be splendid, the local arrangements excellent, and the turn-out gratifying.
Reflecting on the convention since then, I've had time to analyze my hopes and expectations for the conference. What had I hoped for? What were my expectations?
Like so much in life, the topic came about by serendipity, when I stumbled upon a review article suggesting that scholars and critics were returning to questions of aesthetic merit. As one who never did fully participate in the so-called “theory revolution,” I immediately thought that perhaps members of CEA would respond to a call for papers as I had to the review article. I hoped that many of them would enjoy once again asking what is perhaps the most fundamental question of our discipline: What is good writing, and how do we know it when we see it?”
Early indications that the topic had aroused people's interest came with the first abstracts submitted. Many of them were responding directly to the topic, some in ways I had not even imagined. Yes, there were interesting approaches to canonical works (the word “text” always sticks in my throat.), and questions of aesthetics being asked about works that might usually be approached by feminist or postcolonial theories, but it was especially gratifying to see proposals on applying aesthetic principles and questions to composition, pedagogy, and even technical writing. As the abstracts continued to come in, it seemed increasingly clear that, indeed, CEA members were responding enthusiastically to the topic.
Being program chair is probably not the best vantage point for enjoying a scholarly conference. The nagging questions of “Will presenters get the A-V equipment they need—and on time?” “Will the session chairs remember their assignments?” “Will the keynote speakers show up?” are constantly distracting, even though one knows a) that things usually do work out and b) people really are reliable and helpful. Moreover, there are always last-minute details to be attended to and checked on, so that often a session passed before I had a chance even to drop in and see how things were progressing. But as initial fears gave way to assurance, I found more and more opportunities to sit in on sessions, and the experience was always gratifying.
I wish I had had time to hear all the presentations, even though in reading the abstracts I'd been privileged to experience something only the organizer can—the whole of the conference in miniature. The first session I attended in featured students from Mary Baldwin College. Here I enjoyed four excellent papers on Shakespeare, delivered with the verve and panache drama students bring to such an occasion. After that, it was on to the Diversity Luncheon and the excellent lecture by Najat Rahman, “Teaching Middle Eastern Literature in English Translation.” That was followed immediately by Jill Barnum's “President's Forum,” in which questions of literary value and aesthetics were spiritedly presented and debated. By this time, I was sure that the conference was confronting and wrestling with the issues I had hoped it would. This impression was further confirmed as I found time to sneak into other sessions.
CEA has always been fortunate in attracting first-rate keynote speakers and special presentations, and 2004 was no exception. I must confess that Jerome McGann's inventive and lively speech was not what I had expected, but who could fail to be both amused and challenged by his readings of great ape poetry? Was it an elaborate April Fool's Joke or a way of jolting us into aesthetic surprise? I've not been able to decide, and I doubt if any consensus would or could be reached, but it was a performance not to be missed. The following evening there was another such performance—the “gender flipped” production of Romeo and Juliet by the graduate students from Mary Baldwin College. The capacity crowd was bowled over by the students' originality and boldness in asking us to accept—and react to—the complete shift of gender roles in a play all of us knew (or thought we did) beforehand. Unfortunately, I had to leave Saturday's luncheon before Terry Belanger could deliver his lecture, but already he had regaled the crowd with “something you could put your hands on”—large sheets of newsprint that could be folded into printers' hats. (I stole three for my grandsons' amusement).
By the time I reached home late Saturday night (a night shortened by the shift to daylight savings time), I was fully convinced that we in English are still vitally interested in aesthetic questions, deeply committed to confronting one of the most elusive questions we humans can ask ourselves: “What is beauty?” Crazy as it may seem in a world whose news is dominated by chaos, we still hope to bring order out of the events we experience and make them intelligible through words. We still look to writers past and present to make beauty where none exists, to give pleasure even when it involves pain, and to make of this rough and evanescent tool—language—something lovely and enduring.
Thanks, CEA.
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Dean Baldwin teaches Shakespeare, Chaucer, critical theory, and the short story at Penn State Erie, The Berhend College. He has been involved in CEA and in Pennsylvania CEA for many years, having served as editor of Pennsylvania English for eight years and president for two. He is Immediate Past President of CEA.
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