THS Study Day 2022 Call for Papers - Under the Greenwood Tree

Celebrating Hardy's Second Published Novel

Saturday 23rd April at The Town Hall, Corn Exchange Dorchester at 10.00am.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

Professor Simon Gattrell (University of Georgia in Athens, U.S.)

Professor Angelique Richardson (University of Exeter)

Dr Peter Robson (The Folklore Society, U.K.)

And a performance by The New Hardy Players

2022 will mark the 150th anniversary of Under the Greenwood Tree, perhaps Hardy's most light-hearted novel, but one with hidden depths that become evident upon each re-reading. Its humorous depiction of life in an early Victorian rural community places it within Hardy's 'Novels of Character and Environment'. On the surface it concerns the trials and tribulations of the Mellstock Quire, based on the quire of which Hardy's own father and grandfather were members, and the machinations of Fancy Day, the new village schoolmistress, and her trio of suitors. It is interwoven with folklore and folksong, and underneath can be seen a repudiation of the eugenicist theories espoused by contemporaries such as Grant Allen and Francis Galton. Biological and social harmony undergird the novel which best encapsulates Hardy's notion of 'loving kindness'. The Thomas Hardy Society warmly invites proposals for twenty-minute presentations on any aspect of Under the Greenwood Tree which may include, but are not limited to:

Rural versus Urban
Gender Relations
Biology and Eugenics
Society and Morality
Music in Literature
Folklore and folksong
The Novels of Character and Environment

To support attendance at this day which has been designed to appeal to academics and general enthusiasts alike, the Society will be offering two bursaries of £100 each to students who would otherwise find travel or accommodation costs prohibitive. Please send proposals of not more than 350 words, and no later than 28 February 2022, along with a brief description, if you are a student, of how a bursary would benefit your studies, to Dr Tracy Hayes at info@hardysociety.org

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