"Romanticism" in Crisis:

A Panel Discussion on Period and Profession

The six position papers that follow were written for a plenary panel at the 1997 NASSR (North American Society for the Study of Romanticism) meeting, "Romanticism and Its Others," held at McMaster University (October 23-26 1997). The panel, "'Romanticism' in Crisis: A Panel Discussion on Period and Profession," was inspired by exchanges over the past year--at the 1996 NASSR meeting, over the NASSR-L, on the Romantic Circles website, at the 1996 MLA Convention, and elsewhere--on changing definitions of British Romanticism, canon revision, the new Romantics teaching anthologies and (most of all) the future of British Romanticism as a hiring field. (The informal survey by Wolfson and Galperin that helped galvanize these discussions, as well as some initial reactions to it, are available elsewhere on this page.) The panelists included William Galperin (Rutgers University), Susan Wolfson [in absentia] (Princeton University), Greg Kucich (University of Notre Dame), Charles Rzepka (Boston University), Beth Lau (California State University, Long Beach), Clifford Siskin (SUNY, Stony Brook), and Elizabeth Jones. The discussion that followed was unusually lively and has continued on the NASSR-L. We have posted the six position papers on the Features page of Romantic Circles so that those who could not attend the 1997 NASSR meeting can now read them and join the ongoing debate.

• William Galperin and Susan Wolfson,
  "The Romantic Century"
• Greg Kucich,
  "Surveying The Survey"
• Charles Rzepka,
  "Position Paper"
• Beth Lau,
  "Position Paper"
• Clifford Siskin,
  "The Business of Romanticism"
• Elizabeth Jones,
  "Position Paper"