Shapes of Shame in Literature International Research Conference

Shame is a deeply social and moral emotion, arising when individuals perceive themselves as failing to meet the expectations of others or internalized societal norms. It manifests through physiological responses, behaviors, and metaphoric expressions, often operating below the threshold of explicit language. In literature, shame functions both as a thematic and structural force, shaping characters, plots, and the emotional charge of texts.

We cordially invite junior and senior researchers from literary studies and related disciplines to participate in the international conference "Shapes of Shame in Literature," which will take place in Nova Gorica, Slovenia, on 15–16 June 2026. The event is part of the research project Shapes of Shame in Slovene Literature (J6-60113), funded by the Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS). The project is focused on the poetics and politics of shame in literature, through close, computational and other readings.

We welcome contributions exploring how shame operates in literary texts – whether through motifs of humiliation, the representation of marginalized identities, intersections with class, gender, ethnicity, disability, queerness, or bodily otherness, or via literary techniques such as narrative voice, metaphor, and embodiment. We are particularly interested in case studies, theoretical reflections, and interdisciplinary approaches that consider shame not only as an emotional experience but also as a cultural, political, and aesthetic phenomenon. Please join us in rethinking how literature reveals, encodes, or resists the many faces of shame.

This event will explore the politics and poetics of shame through an intersectional lens, focusing on how shame is experienced and represented in literature across dimensions such as ethnicity, class, disability, gender, and queerness. It will examine how marginalized identities are shaped by interlocking forms of discrimination and how shame functions both as a personal emotion and a social mechanism. Special attention will be given to under-researched areas in literature, such as class shame, queer shame, and the portrayal of disability. The conference aims to foster interdisciplinary discussion and generate new interpretations of literary works through the lens of affect theory and intersectionality.

Please send a short abstract (200–300 words) of your contribution and a brief bio (max 150 words) to shame@ung.si by 30 December 2025. The conference will feature both in-person and Zoom sessions. Each participant will have 20 minutes for their presentation, followed by a discussion. There is no participation fee.

Several key prompts for your submissions:

• How do literary authors from the 19th to the 21st Century employ textual strategies to articulate and depict shaming and shame?
• What insights can be gained through a combination of computational analysis of a larger literary corpus and in-depth examination of selected case studies?
• Who is the subject and object of shame in literature, and how is this emotion mediated, conveyed, and experienced in the literary works?
• How does the narration permit certain characters to speak and express shame while silencing others, thus contributing to their feelings of shame?
• How does shame manifest and influence the regulation of emotions and actions within the depicted elements of literary works, including characters and the overall narrative?
• Each discourse has a specific political level. How does this function through literary means? In what way do literary representations in literature connect with discourses?
• How is the isolating and liberating potential of shame represented in literary works?
• How can the concept of shame in literature and in literary authorship be examined through a gendered perspective?
• How is shame portrayed within individual case studies of different literary genres (for example crime fiction)?
• How do romance novels explore the theme of adultery and its connection to shame?
• In what ways do folk tales depict the shaming of children and poor people, and how is shame expressed in this context?
• How are shame and nuanced expressions of this emotion represented in autofiction?
• Which real and imaginary spaces in the selected literary works are associated with the emotion of shame?
• How do authors express the marked nature of specific spaces with shame through literary devices (descriptions, direct speech, internal monologue)?
• How does narrative perspective impact the representations of shame about space (for example, through the comparison between third-person and first-person narrators)?
• How did the shaming of literary authors take place in history? Which media and which mechanisms were used for this?
• What were the underlying reasons for shaming the authors? Were these reasons conveyed implicitly or explicitly?
• How is shame interconnected with instances of literary creators deviating from the societal and stylistic norms of their era?
• How are shame and instances of shaming within selected case studies related to the rejection of canonization for specific authors?