CFP Authorizing Tolkien (Spec Issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research) (7/1/2015)

A great idea; please note some modification in the call to link the reference:

CFP: Authorizing Tolkien: Questions of Adaptation, Control, Dissemination, and Transformation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Works [Special Issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research]
Friday, May 29, 2015
https://networks.h-net.org/node/13784/discussions/71278/cfp-authorizing-tolkien-questions-adaptation-control-dissemination

This proposal for a themed issue of the Journal of Tolkien Research seeks articles about the matters of adaptation, control  dissemination, and transformation of Tolkien’s works (including those published by his son, Christopher), and the implications such matters have for current and future scholarship in the areas of Tolkien Studies, film and media studies, cultural studies, adaptation studies, gaming, and fan studies.

In 2012, Christopher Tolkien gave an interview to Le Monde, a French newspaper, in which he describes himself as turning his head from the recent commercialization of his father’s work: “Il ne me reste qu’une seule solution: tourner la tête” (Tolkien, l'anneau de la discorde). Fans and critics alike have had strong opinions about the validity of adaptations of Tolkien’s works, beginning with the Rankin-Bass animated versions of The Hobbit and Return of the King, Ralph Bakshi’s partially-rotoscoped animated adaptation, a number of video games based on Tolkien’s narratives, fan fiction, fan art, etc.

These public adaptations, both commercial and amateur, are a direct reflection of the complex global receptions of Tolkien's works over the past seventy-eight years, including the ways in which his works are discussed and taught in a variety of socio-political contexts and the growing high and medieval fantasy publishing and film productions.

Article topics are not limited to, but can include, ideas of authority with respect to Tolkien’s intellectual property” (crossing) boundaries in adaptation, expanding (even potentially negative) critiques of Tolkien’s narratives, modes of retelling Tolkien’s stories, the issues of adaptation into different media,  original fantasy fiction and films influenced by Tolkien's work, approaches to teaching Tolkien's work, etc.



Proposal Deadline:  July 1, 2015

First Draft Deadline:  December 10, 2015

Final Draft Deadline: May 10 2016 (to Journal of Tolkien Research)



Co-editors:

Michael Elam (melam@regent.edu)

Robin Anne Reid (Robin.Reid@tamuc.edu)



Length:  (recomended): 10,000-30,000 words (including Works Cited)

Format:  MLA 7th



Michael Elam; Robin Reid
Email: melam@regent.edu; robin.reid@tamuc.edu