Real and Imagined Readers, a session sponsored by the Society for Critical Exchange at NeMLA 2022

Session at the NeMLA Convention in Baltimore, 10-13 March 2022. What determines the readership of a text or other medium, and how does such determination occur? Who are the imagined readers of a specific work, or a genre of literature or media, and how is this legible in textual features, modes of dissemination, implicit or explicit intentions of authors, or histories of reception? How do real readers encounter such assumptions or positionings and accept or resist them? Which works reach more homogeneous audiences, which garner multiple or intersecting ones, and how do audiences shift over time? Do readers have the power to choose their identities as readers? Abstracts for 15-20 minute papers due 30 September 2021 to https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/login