Call for Proposals

We are delighted to invite scholars, practitioners, and enthusiasts from the fields of literature, healthcare, psychology, social sciences, and public policy to contribute to our upcoming online conference. This event seeks to explore the intersection of cultural narratives and societal realities, focusing on health and healthcare in the twenty-first century as portrayed in the works of Sally Rooney and their resonance both within contemporary Irish society and Irish literary creation, and outside Irish borders, as these themes resonate at a global level as well. As the Russian Formalists postulated once and for all, form and content are inseparable, and so we invite 20-minute papers of both the form and contents of the novels with the aim of grasping the ideology they convey.

Conference Themes:

We invite submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

Mental Health and Emotional Well-being:

• Exploration of mental health as depicted in Rooney’s novels.

• Discussion on how these portrayals relate to current mental health issues in Ireland, including access to services and public perception.

Interpersonal Relationships and Community Care:

• Analysis of the role of community and interpersonal relationships in providing care in Rooney's narratives.

• Comparisons with community-led health initiatives in Ireland, especially in response to recent crises.

• Examination of how Rooney’s characters’ health and well-being are affected by their socioeconomic status.

Fragmentation and vulnerability:

• Reflections on the notions of fragmented and vulnerable characters both inside and outside the Irish borders.

• Investigation of the awakening of millennial vulnerabilities and how new generations are being shaped.

• Examination of the twenty-first century as the era of social media and shared personal narratives.

• Analysis of the limits and affordances of narrative in making sense of health, care and twenty-first century vulnerabilities.

Crisis, Ethics and the Healthcare System Response:

• Insights into the depiction of crisis situations in Rooney’s works and their impact on individual health.

• Evaluating the resilience of the Irish healthcare system in crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recessions.

• Discussion on ethical dilemmas and moral considerations in healthcare as observed in Rooney’s writing.

• Reflections on current ethical debates in Irish healthcare policies and practices.

Gender and Health/care:

• Investigation of gender dynamics within Rooney’s novels and their influence on health and access to care.

• Broader discussion on gender-specific health issues and policies in Ireland.

• Discussion on the influence of literature on the formation of gender social norms and how these influences translate into everyday life.

• Research on how the intersection of various identities, such as gender and class, manifests in the construction of female characters and representation of experiences in Rooney’s novels.

Globalisation and narrative practices:

• The mediating role of globalisation in shaping twenty-first century narrativesThe proliferation of new literary trends and genres which both highlight and imagine solutions to the main challenges of our globalised world.

• Reflections on the role of literature to make sense of our contemporary world.

• Post-Celtic Tiger Era: The role of Rooney’s literature in both the global and the Irish contexts.

• Discussion on form: the significance of presenting the stories in specific ways.

• Reflections on the gap between individual particularity and supra-individual concerns at the limits of narrative.

Submission Guidelines and important dates:

• Abstracts: Proposals should include a 250-word abstract outlining the focus of your presentation, the primary theme it addresses, and its relevance to both Sally Rooney's literature and Irish/global societal issues.

• Presentation Formats: We welcome proposals for individual papers, panels, workshops, and poster sessions. Please indicate your preferred format.

• Submission Deadline: 20 July 2024

• Notification of Acceptance: All submissions will be peer-reviewed, and notifications will be sent by 10 September 2024.

• How to Submit: Please submit your proposal via this link.