The CLCS Celtic forum invites abstracts for a session on “Celtic Archipelagos” for the MLA Convention in Toronto, Jan. 7-10, 2021.

The governing concept of “archipelago,” understood as a loosely related chain of islands connected by water (such as Britain and Ireland), asks us to think “archipelagically”—to bring together loosely-connected ideas,
texts, and concepts that link to one another across a broader or more far-flung area than we might otherwise consider. Papers may also think geographically, broadening the purview of the “Celtic world” by considering Celtic diaspora, presence, influence, and connections in Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean, the Americas, India, Asia, Australia—as if the landmasses of this world might be viewed as sets of archipelagos. Papers may also emphasize the very real, smaller archipelagos of the North Atlantic, focusing on motifs in Celtic literature and/or culture like sea travel, islands, boats, navigation, intercultural relations, etc.—or, in the digital realm, thinking of the Internet as a sea, of digital data points as archipelagos in a virtual Celtic world. To focus our ideas, the session emphasizes “archipelago” as a metaphor for a particular methodology, expanded geographical purview, or motif study. We are open to studies focusing in any time, place, or format.

Submit 250-word abstracts for 15-minute papers to Melissa Ridley Elmes (MElmes@lindenwood.edu) by March 15.