John B. Lamb currently offers the following talk as part of the English Department Speakers program:
“Dark Passages: The Ordeal of Masculinity in Noir Fiction and Film”
The focus of this talk will be on popular configurations of masculinity in American “hard boiled” fiction and film noir from 1930-1960. Authors to be discussed may include Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, Jamees Cain, Cornell Woorich, and Mickey Spillane.
“Victorian Secrets and the Victorian Sensation Novel”
The focus of this talk will be on popular Victorian novels written in the 1860s and dubbed “sensation” literature. Specifically, I will discuss how the sensation novels written by Wilkie Collins, Mary Elizabeth Braddon, and Mrs. Henry Woods as well as the debate surrounding them betray the aspirations and anxieties of their largley middle-class readers and critics.
The English Department Speakers program (EDS) provides talks for a variety of audiences-high schools, civic groups, community organizations, etc.-free of charge. To obtain more information about the EDS program or to schedule a speaker, call Professor Lisa Weihman at (304) 293-9735 or e-mail her at Lisa.Weihman@mail.wvu.edu.