The Dickens Society

Last updated

The Dickens Society is a non-profit organization founded on 29 December 1970 by 40 participants at the Modern Language Association Convention in New York City. [1] The Dickens Society's purpose is "to conduct, further, and support research, publication, instruction, and general interest in the life, times, and literature of Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870)." [2] In Dickens After Dickens (2020), Emily Bell notes, "The rise of neo-Victorian fiction in the 1960s further deepened the public interest in the author, and the establishment of the Dickens Society in 1970 represented another formal, international recognition of the value of academic study of Dickens." [3] According to David Paroissien, "The Dickens Society was always meant to be an international" organization in contrast to the Dickens Fellowship, explicitly functioning as a "service society" that "would dedicate itself to supporting the scholarly needs of its members." [4]

Contents

Annual symposium

To increase engagement from its global membership in both hemispheres, the Dickens Society alternates its symposium location between various institutions and major cities in North America or Europe. [5] One important feature of the event is that there is no keynote; graduate students, early career researchers, independent scholars, and tenured faculty are allotted equal space and time to present research. [2]

Scholarships

Each year, the Dickens Society funds several competitive scholarly awards and other financial support for its members, encouraging "research into almost anything to do with Dickens." [6] As Nancy Aycock Metz states, "The society still honors many of the original goals - an annual MLA seminar, transatlantic scholarly exchanges, prizes and stipends to support the work of young professionals." [5] The David Paroissien Prize, named for a notable founding member and Dickens Quarterly editor, is awarded "to the best peer-reviewed essay on Dickens published in a journal or edited collection." [7] The Robert B. Partlow Jr. Prize, which honors another founding member, former officer, and influential Dickensian scholar, [8] is conferred upon the best paper written and submitted prior to the annual symposium by a graduate student, independent scholar, or untenured faculty member. [7]

Dickens Quarterly

The journal of The Dickens Society, first entitled Dickens Studies Newsletter, predated the founding of the Society by a year. First published in 1970, [9] and edited by Robert Patten, the journal's title was changed to Dickens Quarterly in March 1984. [10] Dickens Quarterly's long-time general editor was the late scholar David Paroissien, who published a detailed retrospect about the organization and journal's history in 1996 [4] and again in 2010. [11] Currently, it is edited by Dominic Rainsford (Aarhus University).

Dickens Quarterly is published four times a year by Johns Hopkins University Press. A subscription to it is included in the cost of annual membership. [12] Recent issues are featured on Project Muse, and its archive appears on JSTOR. Together with the Dickensian (Dickens Fellowship) and Dickens Studies Annual, it forms a triad of leading publications devoted to presenting new research into the life and times of Charles Dickens.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Dickens</span> English novelist and social critic (1812–1870)

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime and, by the 20th century, critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories are widely read today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frederick Jackson Turner</span> American historian (1861–1932)

Frederick Jackson Turner was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his frontier thesis. He trained many PhDs who went on to become well-known historians. He promoted interdisciplinary and quantitative methods, often with an emphasis on the Midwestern United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibn Warraq</span> Pen name of an author critical of Islam

Ibn Warraq is the pen name of an anonymous author critical of Islam. He is the founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society and used to be a senior research fellow at the Center for Inquiry, focusing on Quranic criticism. Warraq is the vice-president of the World Encounter Institute.

Louis Hartz was an American political scientist, historian, and a professor at Harvard, where he taught from 1942 until 1974. Hartz’s teaching and various writings —books and articles— have had an important influence on American political theory and comparative history.

<i>Mythlore</i> Academic journal

Mythlore is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal founded by Glen GoodKnight and published by the Mythopoeic Society. Although it publishes articles that explore the genres of myth and fantasy in general, special attention is given to the three most prominent members of the Inklings: J. R. R. Tolkien, C. S. Lewis, and Charles Williams. The current editor-in-chief is the Tolkien scholar Janet Brennan Croft. The Tolkien Society describes Mythlore as a "refereed scholarly journal".

The Science Fiction Research Association (SFRA), founded in 1970, is the oldest, non-profit professional organization committed to encouraging, facilitating, and rewarding the study of science fiction and fantasy literature, film, and other media. The organization’s international membership includes academically affiliated scholars, librarians, and archivists, as well as authors, editors, publishers, and readers. In addition to its facilitating the exchange of ideas within a network of science fiction and fantasy experts, SFRA holds an annual conference for the critical discussion of science fiction and fantasy where it confers a number of awards, and it produces the quarterly publication, SFRA Review, which features reviews, review essays, articles, interviews, and professional announcements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Ternan</span> British actress (1839–1914)

Ellen Lawless Ternan, also known as Nelly Ternan or Nelly Wharton-Robinson, was an English actress known for her association with the author Charles Dickens.

The Association for Asian Studies (AAS) is a scholarly, non-political and non-profit professional association focusing on Asia and the study of Asia. It is based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States.

The British Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (BSECS) is an interdisciplinary scholarly society founded in 1971 and based in the United Kingdom which promotes the study of all aspects of eighteenth-century history and culture. Its members are both academics and members of the public from all over the world with a diverse range of interests in the history, literature, art history, architecture, music, science, and wider culture of the long eighteenth century between approximately 1660 and 1820. BSECS is an affiliate of the International Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies (ISECS).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Lincoln Association</span>

The Abraham Lincoln Association(ALA) is an American association advancing studies on Abraham Lincoln and disseminating scholarship about Lincoln. The ALA was founded in 1908 to lead a national celebration of Lincoln's 100th birthday and continues to mark his birthday with an annual banquet and symposium. The ALA holds no archive of materials and instead functions primarily as a scholarly forum. It remains "the nation's oldest and largest Lincoln organization."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Clayton (critic)</span>

Jay Clayton is an American literary critic who is known for his work on the relationship between nineteenth-century culture and postmodernism. He has published influential works on Romanticism and the novel, Neo-Victorian literature, steampunk, hypertext fiction, online games, contemporary American fiction, technology in literature, and genetics in literature and film. He is the William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English and Director of the Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy at Vanderbilt University.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Educational anthropology</span>

Educational anthropology, or the anthropology of education, is a sub-field of socio-cultural anthropology that focuses on the role that culture has in education, as well as how social processes and cultural relations are shaped by educational settings. To do so, educational anthropologists focus on education and multiculturalism, educational pluralism, culturally relevant pedagogy and native methods of learning and socializing. Educational anthropologists are also interested in the education of marginal and peripheral communities within large nation states. Overall, educational anthropology tends to be considered as an applied field, as the focus of educational anthropology is on improving teaching learning process within classroom settings.

The Society for Historical Archaeology (SHA) is a professional organization of scholars concerned with the archaeology of the modern world. Founded in 1967, the SHA promotes scholarly research and the dissemination of knowledge pertaining to historical archaeology. The society is specifically interested in the identification, excavation, interpretation, and conservation of sites and materials on land and underwater. It is the largest such organization in the world and the third-largest anthropological organization in the United States.

The Business History Review is a scholarly quarterly published by Cambridge University Press for Harvard Business School. Business History Review is a peer-reviewed academic journal covering the field of business history. It was established in 1954 by Harvard University Press as the continuation of the Bulletin of the Business Historical Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Studies Association</span> Academic association focused on American Studies

The American Studies Association (ASA) is a scholarly organization founded in 1951. It is the oldest scholarly organization devoted to the interdisciplinary study of U.S. culture and history. The ASA works to promote meaningful dialogue about the United States of America, throughout the U.S. and across the globe. Its purpose is to support scholars and scholarship committed to original research, innovative and effective teaching, critical thinking, and public discussion and debate.

Kathleen Mary Tillotson CBE, FBA, FRSL was a British academic and literary critic, professor of English and distinguished Victorian scholar. Her various works on Elizabethan literature have accumulated significance in the literary sphere, conducting important research and producing publications that feature her editorship. Her work has encouraged many to become involved with literary research.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Letters of Charles Dickens</span> Letters written by Charles Dickens

The letters of Charles Dickens, of which more than 14,000 are known, range in date from about 1821, when Dickens was 9 years old, to 8 June 1870, the day before he died. They have been described as "invariably idiosyncratic, exuberant, vivid, and amusing…widely recognized as a significant body of work in themselves, part of the Dickens canon". They were written to family, friends, and the contributors to his literary periodicals, who included many of the leading writers of the day. Their letters to him were almost all burned by Dickens because of his horror at the thought of his private correspondence being laid open to public scrutiny. The reference edition of Dickens's letters is the 12-volume Pilgrim Edition, edited by Graham Storey et al. and published by Oxford University Press.

Matthew Rowlinson is a Canadian scholar and political candidate. He is professor and former chair of graduate studies in English at the University of Western Ontario. Rowlinson is known for his research on the relationship between literature and economics.

Taylor Stoehr (1931–2013) was an American professor and author. He edited several volumes of Paul Goodman's work as his literary executor.

George Levine is an American professor of English literature who spent his career at Rutgers University.

References

  1. Meckier, Jerome (June 2011). "The History of the Dickens Society, Continued". Dickens Quarterly. 28 (2): 164. JSTOR   45292322 via JSTOR.
  2. 1 2 "The Dickens Society Mission Statement". The Dickens Society. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  3. Bell, Emily (2020). Dickens After Dickens (1st ed.). York: White Rose. p. 4. hdl:20.500.12657/40018. ISBN   978-1-912482-20-7.
  4. 1 2 Paroissien, David (1996). "From the Editor: The Dickens Society at Twenty Six". Dickens Quarterly. 13 (4): 195–199. ISSN   0742-5473.
  5. 1 2 Aycock Metz, Nancy (2010). "Recent Dickens Studies: 2010". Dickens Studies Annual. 43: 269. JSTOR   44372280 via JSTOR.
  6. Abrams, Marc (12 April 2023). "Helluva twist: Did Dickens create the first android in literature?". NewScientist. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  7. 1 2 "Awards". The Dickens Society. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  8. Patten, Robert L. (1997). "Tribute to Robert B. Partlow, Jr". Dickens Quarterly. 14 (2): 65–67. ISSN   0742-5473.
  9. Paroissien, David (2000). "Dickens Quarterly". In Schlicke, Paul (ed.). Oxford reader's companion to Dickens. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-866253-2.
  10. "History". The Dickens Society. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
  11. Paroissien, David (1 March 2010). "The Dickens Society: A Retrospect". Dickens Quarterly. 27 (1): 67–71. JSTOR   45292254 via JSTOR.
  12. Mooney, Gerry (14 October 2022). "Charles Dickens and Race". Gerry Mooney Illustrating Dickens. Retrieved 13 January 2024.