Report: Curran Symposium 2024
by Vasileia Moschou
25th October 2024, New York City
The symposium began with a heartfelt tribute by Michael Gamer to Stuart Curran, a pioneering scholar of Romanticism, former editor of the Keats-Shelley Journal, and past president of the Keats-Shelley Association of America (K-SAA), to whom the previous day’s performance was dedicated. Curran’s legacy was also honored in the presence of his husband, Joseph Wittreich, who attended the symposium in its entirety.
The academic proceedings commenced with a post-Sardanapalus production roundtable featuring James Armstrong and Michael Gamer. This discussion provided a historical overview of the play’s performance history alongside the participants’ reflections on the recent staging. Following this, the first panel, Poetics and Biopolitics, War, Incarceration, included two thought-provoking papers. Michael Demson examined prison hulks and their ambivalent historical and cultural perceptions, while Mariam Wassif analyzed Sardanapalus as a play at war with itself, emphasizing its paradoxical elements. Gerard Cohen-Vrignaud and Kate Singer continued with an exploration of Sardanapalus through the lenses of gender and queer studies.
The second panel, Politics of Performing the Future, re-examined the conceptualization and enactment of the future through diverse perspectives. Emily Rohrbach investigated Keats’s relationship to books and its evolution from private to societal concerns. David Singler conducted a comparative analysis of Laura’s Dream; or the Moonlanders and Frankenstein, highlighting speculative representations of the future as imagined by women writers. Marc Gotthardt traced intersections between prophecy and poetics in Byron’s works, arguing that poetry’s aesthetic and ethical dimensions position the poet as a prophetic figure.
The symposium proceeded with a roundtable featuring Tom Mole, Elizabeth Denlinger, Marsha Manns, Alice Levine, Andrew Stauffer, and Jonathan Sachs. This discussion invited both the panelists and attendees to reflect on the future of Romantic Studies and the Humanities, considering their ongoing relevance and significance in contemporary discourse.
The symposium concluded with a compelling keynote lecture by Professor Jerome McGann, titled “Performing Politics on a Tight Little Island,” which is available on both the K-SAA’s and the Byron Society of America’s websites. In his address, Professor McGann skilfully guided the audience through pivotal moments in his career that, as he noted, shaped his scholarly vocation. By turns reflective and nostalgic, as well as incisive and critical, his lecture offered a profound meditation on those individuals, educators, and circumstances that influence our intellectual and personal development.
For me, his reflections prompted a deep sense of appreciation for the mentors and experiences that have shaped my own perspective. It also encouraged a moment of self-reflection, urging me to reconsider my role as an educator and to confront challenging questions: “Where have we gone wrong?” and “What am I prepared to DO?” These questions resonate not only within the context of academia but also in the broader context of teaching as an act of engagement and responsibility.
On a personal note, I extend my gratitude to the Keats-Shelley Association of America (K-SAA) for their invaluable support of my scholarship. Their generosity afforded me the opportunity to witness both the live rehearsal and performance of one of Byron’s plays, an experience that was both intellectually enriching and artistically inspiring. Additionally, the chance to engage with and be inspired by exceptional scholars in the field has profoundly contributed to my academic growth and perspective.
