Document Type
Introduction
Abstract
[First paragraph]
Spatial literary studies, the subject of this special issue of Reconstruction, is (or are) quite timely, it seems. Whether considered as a singular subfield within literary scholarship more generally or as diverse examples of multiple critical practices (hence, my reluctance to settle on a verb form), spatial literary studies has or have exploded in recent years, and the number of books and essays that might be legitimately listed on any comprehensive bibliography of spatial literary studies is almost beyond count. [1] The response to the call for papers for this special issue alone so exceeded my expectations, with respect both to quantity and to the quality of the submissions, that I decided to make this a somewhat larger than usual edition. The apparent limitlessness of virtual hyperspace available to online journals make things easier in some ways, while also placing a dangerous temptation before an overly enthusiastic editor. I found myself unable to limit myself to the fifteen pieces included in this issue, so several additional essays will appear in a special section of Reconstruction 14.4 devoted to the problem of place. All in all, the essays included here demonstrate the diversity, flexibility, and range of spatial literary studies in the twenty-first century.
Repository Citation
Tally, Robert T.. "Textual Geographies: The Real-and-Imagined Spaces of Literature, Criticism, and Theory." Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture vol. 14, no. 3, 2014, pp. 1–11. https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/reconstruction/vol14/iss3/1