CFP Journal Issue on Tim Burton (Spec Issue of Parol: Qauderni d'Arte e di Epistemologia) (expired)

Sorry to have missed posting this earlier; it is certainly a publication worth looking out for:

Journal Issue on Tim Burton
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/03/16/journal-issue-on-tim-burton

deadline for submissions: May 15, 2018

full name / name of organization: Dr. Antonio Sanna

contact email: isonisanna@hotmail.com



Journal Issue on Tim Burton

Edited by Antonio Sanna

Tim Burton is certainly one of the most popular directors of contemporary Hollywood. His oeuvre includes blockbuster films such as Batman (1989), Planet of the Apes (2001) and Alice in Wonderland (2010) as well as less profitable– but still highly recognizable - films such as Ed Wood (1994). His work with stop motion, evident in Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (2005) and the recent Frankenweenie (2013) has further popularized and updated a technique that has been fundamental in cinema since the silent era. His distinctive and personal touch, a visionary style that is now referred to as “Burtonesque”, and his frequent collaborations with Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter and Danny Elfman (to mention merely a few) has contributed to establish a unique and identifiable brand.

The Italian academic and peer-reviewed journal Parol: Qauderni d'Arte e di Epistemologia will dedicate one of its next issues to the artistic production of the American director, including a total of six/seven papers on the subject, that explore Burton’s multi-medial oeuvre from multidisciplinary perspectives. The issue will be edited by Antonio Sanna, co-editor of the volume A Critical Companion to Tim Burton (Lexington Books, 2017). The editor seeks previously-unpublished essays that explore the American director’s heterogeneous career, and is particularly interested in interdisciplinary approaches to the subject that can illuminate the diverse facets of the Burton’s work and his unique visual style.

There are several themes worth exploring when analyzing Burton’s works, utilizing any number of theoretical frameworks of your choosing. The editor requests the papers to be based on formal analysis and to use an academic language. Papers on the visual style of Burton will be particularly appreciated, but contributions may include the following topics:

• Burton and the visual arts
• Humour, Black Humour and the Macabre
• Burton and fairy tales
• Gender and queer readings
• Neo-Victorian art
• Exploration of dreams and the subconscious
• Fascination with machines and ecocriticism
• Mob mentality
• Alienation and misperception, conformity/nonconformity
• Disfigurement, deformity and (dis)ability
• Death and the afterlife
• Intertextuality
• Adaptations, Remakes and Appropriations
• Music and Danny Elfman
• Tim Burton in/and translation
• Evil Clowns
• Fan practice and fan communities

The journal issue will be organized around these topics and others that emerge from submissions. I am open to works that focus on other topics as well and authors interested in pursuing other related lines of inquiry. Feel free to contact the editor with any questions you may have about the project and please share this announcement with colleagues whose work aligns with the focus of this volume.

Submit a 300-500 word abstract of your proposed paper contribution, a brief CV and complete contact information in a single word file to Dr. Antonio Sanna (isonisanna@hotmail.com) by 15 May, 2018. Full chapters of 4000-6000 words will be due by 1 July, 2018 at the latest. Note: all full chapters submitted will be included subject to review.

CFP Foundation Essay Prize 2019 (12/03/2018)

Foundation Essay Prize 2019
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/06/26/foundation-essay-prize-2019

deadline for submissions:
December 3, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction

contact email:
journaleditor@sf-foundation.org


We are pleased to announce our next essay-writing competition. The award is open to all post-graduate research students and to all early career researchers (up to five years after the completion of your PhD) who have yet to find a full-time or tenured position. The prize is guaranteed publication in the next summer issue of Foundation (August 2019).


To be considered for the competition, please submit a 6000-word article on any topic, period, theme, author, film or other media within the field of science fiction and its academic study. All submitted articles should comply with the guidelines to contributors as set out on the SF Foundation website. Only one article per contributor is allowed to be submitted.


The deadline for submission is Monday, 3rd December 2018. All competition entries, with a short (50 word) biography, should be sent to the regular email address: journaleditor@sf-foundation.org The entries will be judged by the editorial team and the winner will be announced in the spring 2019 issue of Foundation.

CFP Children’s and YA Literature and Culture (10/01/2018; PCA 4/17-20/2019)

Children’s and YA Literature and Culture

https://pcaaca.org/area/children%E2%80%99s-and-ya-literature-and-culture

 

Call for papers: 

 

The 2019 Popular Culture Association Conference will be held in Washington, D.C., Wednesday, April 17 through Saturday, April 20. The Children’s and YA Literature and Culture Area invites presentations for papers on any aspect of children’s and YA popular culture: material culture, media, games, advertising, literature, and so on. Past topics have included recent films/television series; technology and social media; books, authors, and series; and issues and trends in children’s and YA literature and culture such as race, gender, and sexuality, dystopian fiction, the controversy about adults reading YA fiction, and environmentalism. New approaches to classic children’s and young adult literature and culture are also welcome.

For this conference, we are particularly interested children’s and young adult political and social activism, and analyses of politics in children’s and adult literature, though we welcome papers about any topic related to children’s and YA literature and culture.

PCA encourages interdisciplinary approaches to popular culture in its presentations, which should be 15-20 minutes long. The deadline for submissions of a 100-200-word abstract is October 1, 2018. Please include your university affiliation if you have one, your telephone number, and your email address.

ALL PROPOSALS AND ABSTRACTS MUST BE SUBMITTED TO THE PCA DATABASE.

Please do NOT submit papers to more than one session of PCA/ACA at the same time. Also be sure of having travel funds should your paper be accepted. Do NOT submit a paper unless you feel confident of attending the conference. No shows are noted.

Send inquiries to (Note: The actual proposals are to be sent directly to the PCA online site):

Dr. Amie Doughty
322 Netzer Admin
English Department
SUNY Oneonta
Oneonta, NY 13820
Phone: (607) 436-2493
E-mail (preferred) Amie.Doughty@oneonta.edu
You can also find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/chlitcultpca and Twitter @chlitcult_pca.

For additional information and instructions go to www.pcaaca.org.

CFP 1997 – The Year that Made the Future: A Symposium (expired; Edhe Hill Univeristy, UK 10/26-28-2018)

This seems of potential interest; sorry for the late posting:

1997 – The Year that made the Future: A symposium
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/04/18/1997-%E2%80%93-the-year-that-made-the-future-a-symposium

deadline for submissions: June 8, 2018

full name / name of organization: Matthew Pateman Edge Hill University

contact email: matthew.pateman@edgehill.ac.uk



October 26 - 28, Edhe Hill Univeristy, UK


1997 was a hugely significant year in terms of shaping the modern world. There are iconic popular culture game-changers such as Harry Potter and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; Teletubbies and Titanic. Bollywood continued to make global inroads with films such as Dil To Pagal Hai,and video games became massive with the release of Grand Theft Auto. Fashion saw the murder of Vesrace, the rise of Alexander McQueen and Stella McCartney. The British Empire was being re-defined through appropriation in the Cool Britannia music scene (with McQueen’s complex union flag frock coat and Geri Helliwell’s nationalistic mini-dress), while the UK transferred Hong Kong back to mainland china. Tony Blair spoke of Princess Diana’s death and ushered in the centrist consensus, while a ceasefire in Northern Ireland suggested the chance of peace. The Deep Blue computer beat Grand Master Gary Kasparov at chess, and the domain names Google, Facebook and Netflix were registered; DVD players went on sale in the US for the first time. Stephen Lawrence was murdered in London and there was an overwhelming vote in the UK to ban handguns after the Dunblane massacre to mention nothing of global shifts in politics and trade, EU expansion, climate change agreements and so much else.


This symposium will seek to address, celebrate, critique and understand 1997; to situate it at the birth of the 21st century in terms of the economic, political, cultural and technological events that it witnessed and produced. Wildly multi- and inter-disciplinary in nature, we welcome papers, panels, posters and presentations from any and all subject area as long as the key theme of the importance of 1997 in future developments related to the paper’s subject is addressed. Given the hoped for wide mix of subjects, we ask that you avoid overly-technical papers and assume an informed but non-specialist audience. Papers should be 20 minutes in length, and panel proposals should aim to last for one hour.


It is hoped that there will be screenings / soundings of some of the most memorable visual and audio culture from the year, as well as fashion and other memorabilia. Please feel free to bring your own.


Proposals should be sent to Professor Matthew Pateman by 8th June 2018. I hope to confirm acceptance or otherwise by July 12 with a final programme to be circulated by early September.

Proposals should be sent to matthew.pateman@edgehill.ac.uk.

CFP Collection on Black Neo-Victoriana (7/31/2018)

Black Neo-Victoriana
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/04/20/black-neo-victoriana

deadline for submissions:
July 31, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Edited collection for Neo-Victorian Studies book series (Brill)

contact email:
marlena.tronicke@wwu.de


Recent developments in neo-Victorian cultural production seem to have at least partially acknowledged the steadfast urge put forth by actors, readers/viewers, and critics to include Black experiences in their storyworlds. TV formats like Penny Dreadful (2014-2016), The Frankenstein Chronicles (2015- ), Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015-), and Peaky Blinders (2013- ) as well as films such as Wuthering Heights (2011), Belle (2013), and Lady Macbeth (2017) feature Black characters as part of their screenscape. Yet even though extensive research has brought to light the manifold Black experiences in Victorian Britain, filmmaker Julian Fellowes (Downton Abbey) continues to justify the overwhelmingly white cast in his period productions through a whitewashed conception of historical accuracy. Thereby, as Kehinde Andrews argues, "big budget films present as the historical hallucinations to support the distorted view of reality produced by Whiteness." (2016, 436) Similarly, literary fidelity has been upheld as yet another mechanism to exclude Black characters from neo-Victorian film. The scarcity of Black portrayals and concerns with issues of race in neo-Victorian film and TV holds true for its literary counterpart as well. This steadfast tension between inclusion and exclusion, between presence and absence, calls for an equally attentive, critical, and comprehensive interrogation.

Located at the intersections of Black Studies and Neo-Victorian Criticism, the overarching theme of this volume, Black Neo-Victoriana, calls for a diverse engagement with the manifold ways in which neo-Victorian texts represent Black experiences. As such, it can be framed as a meaningful component of the global trend to reimagine and rewrite Victorian experiences that have been continually marginalised in both historical and cultural discourses. We thus adopt a relatively wide interpretation of ‘neo-Victorian’ in order to account for representations that lie outside the narrow national and temporal margins that the term ‘Victorian’ may evoke. This volume speaks to the notion that neo-Victorian fictions understand the ‘Victorian’ past as a complex repository from which new narratives can arise that do not reproduce such racialised (and often gendered) biases. Neo-Victorianism can then unfold its revisionary potential of interrogating or indeed rewriting the past by giving voice to previously marginalised viewpoints. We seek contributions that carefully intersect the dynamic intricacies of Black presence and absence in neo-Victorian fictions. Thus, we welcome essays on a wide range of source texts, including literature, film and TV, digital media, and material culture. Papers may draw on but are not limited to the following aspects:

• Portrayals of Black characters and representations of Black experiences in neo-Victorian texts
• Neo-Victorian approaches to the effects and after-effects of Empire on Black lives in Britain
• Theorizing Black neo-Victoriana and (re)claiming neo-Victorianism
• Black absence/presence between the poles of period drama’s country house and neo-Victorian Gothic’s underground imaginaries
• Black agency in re-imagined Victorian Britain and the postcolonies
• Adaptation as a mode of intervention
• The relationship between othering, historical accuracy, and literary fidelity
• Intersectionalities of race, gender, and class in neo-Victorian culture
• Queering the neo-Victorian landscape through Black experiences
• Black neo-Victorian aesthetics across genres and media, including e.g. steamfunk, videogames, material culture
• Black involvement in crafting neo-Victorian culture: From film production to publishing

Please address enquiries and expressions of interest to Julian Wacker (juwacker@wwu.de), Marlena Tronicke (marlena.tronicke@wwu.de), and Felipe Espinoza Garrido (espinoza.garrido@wwu.de). Abstracts (approx. 300 words), along with a short biographical note, will be due by July 31, 2018 and should be sent via email to the same address.

Successful submissions will be notified by August 15, 2018.

Final articles (6,000 to 8,000 words incl. references) will be due by March 31, 2019.

CFP Re-Collections: Memory, History and Mindspace in Science Fiction (9/30/2018; Te-Aviv 3/17-18/2019)

Re-Collections: Memory, History and Mindspace in Science Fiction
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/06/01/re-collections-memory-history-and-mindspace-in-science-fiction

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Tel-Aviv University

contact email:
tausfsymposium@gmail.com




The Sixth International Symposium on the Poetics of Science Fiction

Re-Collections: Memory, History and Mindspace in Science Fiction

Department of English and American Studies

and the Porter School of Cultural Studies,

Tel-Aviv University

17-18 March 2019


While science fiction excels at alternating between hopeful and bleak visions of possible futures, perhaps the most unsettling scenario the genre has to offer involves modification of individual and/or collective memory. So often thought of as the foundation of identity, memory has been shown to be unstable, malleable and subject to falsification. Science fiction writers have poked and prodded at the basic tenets of cognition and memory, constructing nightmarish visions of identity crises, fractured psyches, and mental projections with the depth and detail of an entire world. But memory is also a collective endeavor, shaping our cultural ontologies and our perception of history. Here as well, SF has shown how manipulation of collective memory is capable of generating dystopian societies and altering our perception of both past and future.


Whether hard or soft, space opera or cyberpunk, technological and ideological encroachment on our memories and minds remains a subject that continues to fascinate authors across space and time: from Edward Bellamy’s Looking Backward to George Orwell’s 1984 to Octavia Butler’s Kindred, from Philip K. Dick’s “We Can Remember It For you Wholesale” to Roger Zelazny’s The Dream Master to Ted Chiang’s “Story of Your Life” (the basis for the blockbuster movie Arrival). Memory, both individual and collective, remains at the forefront of SF’s engagement with technological, social and psychological change.


Our conference, the sixth in the annual series of SF symposia, is jointly hosted by the Department of English and American Studies and the Porter School of Cultural Studies at Tel-Aviv University, and seeks to address cultural, historical, and narrative questions raised by representations of memory and the mental realm in science fiction. We welcome multimedia, transmedia and interdisciplinary proposals, from literary texts to film and television to video games and more. Topics can include, but are not limited to:

• Technological manipulation of memory (e.g. false memories, artificial memories, memory transfer/erasure, uploading minds)
• Artificial intelligence and memory
• The interrelation between mental, physical and virtual spaces in SF
• Alternative history and memory
• Memory and temporality (e.g. time travel)
• Posthuman and Transhuman memory
• Alien memory (e.g. “mind-melds” with alien species)
• Utopian/Dystopian memory
• Memory as commodity (e.g. cyberpunk)
• Memory and Nostalgia in the SF genre
• Digital ghosts and virtual memories

Proposals of up to 300 words for individual papers and/or panels are to be submitted alongside a short bio to egomel@post.tau.ac.il and tausfsymposium@gmail.com by September 30, 2018. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by the end of October 2018.


Facebook Page

Science Fiction beyond Borders
 

CFP BFS Journal 19 (8/1/2018)

BFS Journal 19
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/05/30/bfs-journal-19

deadline for submissions: August 1, 2018

full name / name of organization: British Fantasy Society

contact email: bfsjournal@britishfantasysociety.org


The journal is a mix of articles and is keen to accept submissions from people who want to write about fantasy, horror and science fiction. Our focus is primarily the former, but our readers have interests across all three genres.

Academic articles for the BFS Journal should be between 2500 and 6000 words. We prefer nearer the former, as this is about the size of a conference paper. References in the text should be (Author, Date of Edition: Page Number) with a full publication listing for the bibliography given for each article at the end. Please don't use footnotes in your submissions.

All contributors are sent a complimentary copy of the print version and the electronic version.

Publication of BFS Journal 19 will be in October 2018.

CFP Magic and Witchcraft on Stage and Screen (6/27/2018; PAMLA 11/9-11/2018)

I'm doble posting this across our associated blogs. Sounds fun; too bad it is the same week as MAPACA.



Extended deadline: Magic and Witchcraft on Stage and Screen
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/06/01/extended-deadline-magic-and-witchcraft-on-stage-and-screen

deadline for submissions: June 27, 2018

full name / name of organization: Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association (PAMLA)

contact email: lgreene@ewu.edu



Deadline extended to June 27, 2018



Proposals are invited for a Special Session of PAMLA (Pacific Ancient and Modern Language Association) 2018, which will meet November 9-11, 2018, in Bellingham, Washington. The conference theme is “Acting, Roles, Stages,” and we will be contributing papers on ways in which magic and witchcraft have been represented dramatically over the centuries.



In the 400 years between Macbeth and Harry Potter, the image of the witch has become more appealing and less frightening, more popular culture and less cultural nightmare. Magic has lost its association with conjuring demons and is portrayed as an innate or acquired skill, more mysterious than playing the piano but maybe not essentially different. Witches are not wicked, and magic is not a tool of the devil. This is a huge cultural shift.



This panel invites speakers in the fields of history, anthropology, drama, film, literature, and religious studies, as well as practitioners of magic and witchcraft, to contribute to our understanding of these phenomena and their changing roles in contemporary culture. Topics from film, drama, and literature might include but are not limited to the following:

• Macbeth
• Bell, Book, and Candle
• Bewitched
• Harry Potter
• The Craft
• Practical Magic

Panel participants must join PAMLA BY July 1, 2018, and must register and pay for the conference by October 1, 2018. Please submit proposals through the PAMLA website at www.pamla.org.

CFP Mythopoeic Children's and Young Adult Literature (Spec Issue of Mythlore) (3/30/2019)

Mythopoeic Children's and Young Adult Literature
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/06/18/mythopoeic-childrens-and-young-adult-literature

deadline for submissions: March 30, 2019

full name / name of organization: Mythopoeic Society

contact email: dwhite@atu.edu



Call for Papers: Mythopoeic Children’s and Young Adult Literature



Special Issue of Mythlore, Fall 2019

Guest Edited by Donna R. White

** Draft Deadline: March 30, 2019

** Final paper deadline: June 30, 2019



Mythlore, a journal dedicated to the genres of myth and fantasy (particularly the works of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis), invites article submissions for a special issue focused on children’s literature. Children’s fantasy has always been a part of mythopoeic literature, and Mythlore has occasionally published articles about myth-building children’s writers such as J.K. Rowling and Nancy Farmer; however, this special issue marks the first time we have focused specifically on mythopoeic literature for children and young adults.



As always, we welcome essays on The Chronicles of Narnia and The Hobbit, but we also encourage articles that discuss the works of other mythopoeic writers for young readers. Classic works like Peter Pan and The Wind in the Willows have clear mythopoeic elements, as do modern fantasies by Philip Pullman, Diana Wynne Jones, Lloyd Alexander, and many others. Studies of lesser known writers like Carol Kendall are also welcome.



To get an idea of the range of topics covered in Mythlore, visit the online archive at https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/

and consult the electronic index, which can be downloaded free at http://www.mythsoc.org/press/mythlore-index-plus.htm

Submission guidelines can be found at

http://www.mythsoc.org/mythlore/mythlore-submissions.htm



Send queries and questions to Donna R. White, dwhite@atu.edu.

Drafts and final papers should be submitted via https://dc.swosu.edu/mythlore/

CFP Studies in the Fantastic (7/1/2018)

CFP: Studies in the Fantastic
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2018/cfp-studies-in-the-fantastic-2/
May 1, 2018

Please submit to Studies in the Fantastic, a journal published by the University of Tampa. July 1 deadline.

full name / name of organization: Studies in the Fantastic

contact email: fantastic@ut.edu, afirestone@ut.edu, slauro@ut.edu

Studies in the Fantastic requests submissions for volume 6 of our peer-reviewed academic journal, to be published in winter 2018/19. Essays examining the fantastic from a variety of scholarly perspectives are welcome. For consideration for volume 6, please send submissions to fantastic@ut.edu by July 1, 2018.

Submitted articles should conform to the following guidelines:

6,000-12,000 words
MLA-style citations and bibliography
A separate title page with author information to facilitate blind peer review
1” margins, 12 point serif font, page numbers (but no identifying information in page headers)

Studies in the Fantastic is an annual journal publishing refereed essays, informed by scholarly criticism and theory, on both fantastic texts and their social function. Although grounded in literary studies, we are especially interested in articles examining genres and media that have been underrepresented in humanistic scholarship. Subjects may include, but are not limited to, weird fiction, science/speculative fiction, fantasy, video games, science writing, futurism, and technocracy. Electronic access to Studies in the Fantastic is available via Project MUSE.

CFP 43rd Annual Comparative Drama Conference (11/3/2018; Orlando 4/4-6/2019)

Of potential interest:

43rd Annual Comparative Drama Conference, April 4-6, 2019, Orlando, Florida
https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/06/11/43rd-annual-comparative-drama-conference-april-4-6-2019-orlando-florida

Conference website: http://blogs.rollins.edu/drama/


deadline for submissions: November 3, 2018


full name / name of organization: Comparative Drama Conference


contact email: wboles@rollins.edu


Call for Papers–2019 Conference 43rd Comparative Drama Conference
Text & Presentation
April 4-6, 2019
Orlando, Florida


This a long call. Click for full details.

CFP Southern Studies Conference (10/22/2018; Montgomery 2/1-2/2019)

Of potential interest:


CFP: Southern Studies Conference (10/22/2018; 2/1-2/2019)
https://www.navsa.org/2018/06/15/cfp-southern-studies-conference-10-22-2018-2-1-2-2019/
Jun 15, 2018



Southern Studies Conference

Auburn University at Montgomery, AL

February 1-2, 2019

Now in its eleventh year, the AUM Southern Studies Conference, hosted by Auburn University at Montgomery, explores themes related to the American South across a wide array of disciplines and methodologies. Registrants to the two-day conference enjoy a variety of peer-reviewed panels, two distinguished keynote speakers and a visiting artist, who gives a talk and mounts a gallery exhibition.
The 2019 Conference Committee invites proposals for twenty-minute academic papers or creative presentations on any aspect of Southern Studies (broadly defined), including those relating to the fields of anthropology, geography, art history, history, literature, theater, music, communications, political science, and sociology. Disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to this theme are welcome.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• Southern food studies
• Pedagogy and the teaching of Southern topics
• Canonicity and the South
• Slavery and the American South
• Civil War narratives
• Southern archives, museums, and collections
• Civil Rights narratives
• Southern Geographies
• Explorations of race and conflict in the South
• Religion in the South
• Southern literature
• History of science or medicine in the South
• Southern arts (in any medium or genre)
• Southern architecture
• Explorations of the Southern worker
• Southern politics
• Anthropological studies of the South
• Sociological studies of the South
• Southern music
• Cross-cultural exchanges between the South and other geographic areas
• Native American topics of the South
• Stories of immigration/migration and border-crossings
• Contemporary re/mis-conceptions of "The South"
• Presentations by artists/performers/writers working in the South/making work about the South

Proposals can be emailed to southernstudies@aum.edu and should include a 250-word abstract and a 2-page CV. The deadline for submission is October 22, 2018. Please note that submission of a proposal constitutes a commitment to attend, if accepted. Presenters will be notified of acceptance by November 2018. For more information, please visit the conference website, or contact Naomi Slipp, Conference Director and Assistant Professor of Art History, Auburn University at Montgomery: nslipp@aum.edu.

CFP Hobgoblins of Fantasy: American Fantasy Fiction in Theory (for The New Historicist) (7/31/2018)

CFP: “Hobgoblins of Fantasy: American Fantasy Fiction in Theory,” Special Feature in The New Americanist
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2018/cfp-hobgoblins-of-fantasy-american-fantasy-fiction-in-theory-special-feature-in-the-new-americanist/
June 8, 2018

The New Americanist would like to announce a general call for papers for its third issue (Fall 2019). The New Americanist is an interdisciplinary journal publishing scholarly work on the United States and the Americas broadly considered. We are especially interested in work which includes a global perspective, introduces new critical approaches, and proposes theoretical frameworks to the study of the US. We welcome contributions from scholars from around the world and across the humanities and social sciences.

“Hobgoblins of Fantasy: American Fantasy Fiction in Theory”

Special feature in The New Americanist

In association with the American Studies Center, University of Warsaw

“A frightful hobgoblin stalks through Europe. We are haunted by a ghost, the ghost of Communism.” The Communist Manifesto (1850)

A frightful hobgoblin stalks through genre fiction, too. Fantasy is haunted by that same ghost, the ghost of critical theory. The fantastic, the hobgoblin, and fantasy literature as we know it were “always already” present in the early articulations of critical theory. Fantasy, though, does not merely echo within, or from, Marx and Engels. It presents unique challenges to critical theory, both to readers and to literary critics, not least because of its seeming opposition to realism, materialism, and history itself. That is to say, critical theory’s ostensible rationalism confronts fantasy’s vision of itself as myth. Even the word “myth” carries such different meanings in the theories of Horkheimer and Adorno, Barthes, or Lacan, rather than in fantasy, that the two can barely understand each other. That instability roots fantasy in a “negative capability,” possibly even an antifoundationalist tendency, when it comes to theorizing it. Suvin or Jameson, for example, set it in opposition to science fiction, its twin genre. So while fantasy finds more traction than SF in political allegory or feminist critique, that very capability clashes with the class theory of history, the critique of neoliberalism, that SF ostensibly contains. The result is that fantasy vacillates between Marxist critique, with its determinism and false consciousness, and social commentary, with its direct representation and even accusation.

What are readers to do? Must the hobgoblin be exorcised, or do we find a medium through which to communicate? Is the hobgoblin itself a product of the struggle between fantasy and rationality? As a special feature in the newly-relaunched The New Americanist, and in association with the American Studies Center at the University of Warsaw, “Hobgoblins of Fantasy: American Fantasy Fiction in Theory” seeks articles on critical approaches to American fantasy fiction. The special feature section is open to articles from any critical paradigm and of any period in American fantasy but is particularly interested in readings of fantasy that draw on the conflicts among competing critical methods. This collection reflects debates around definitions, sub-genres (urban fantasy vs. heroic fantasy, or high & low fantasy, etc.), periodization, historicization, gender & sexuality in reading communities, reception theory, and so forth. Portals into the critical fantastic include (but are not limited to) some suggestive tensions:

China Miéville observes in Red Planets that the SF project had begun subtitled “Marxism, Science Fiction, Fantasy.” Whence fantasy and why this trend?

Jameson and Suvin welcome fantasy into history with the departure of magic, or precisely when it ceases to be fantastical. Are other historicizations of fantasy possible?

Urban fantasy has flourished through identity politics (gender, LGBTQ+, “minority” communities), but what of concepts of consolation, inoculation, or cultural appropriation that question foundational works in the sub-genre?

The rise of Afrofuturism in SF suggests a parallel Afrofantastic. What of other communities find voice through (or represented in) fantasy? What voices do Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American, and other fantasy communities find in the genre?

Reader response and reception theory in pulp fiction has largely related to romance reading communities—in what ways is fantasy divergent from (or contiguous with) this established critical project?

Other questions might include (but are not limited to):

Is there a “Hard Fantasy,” and is it complicit in the potential toxic masculinity of demands for a Hard SF?

Fanfic studies have concentrated on SF, often in relation to identity and communities of resistance in underground publications, yet S/K echoes very differently in the commercial success of Fifty Shadesresponding to Twilight. What are the sexual politics of fantasy fanfic? What are its genders and communities?

What are fantasy’s nationalisms? Is there a manifest destiny stalking American fantasy?

Is “Cli-Fi” necessarily a subset of SF’s cognitive estrangements, or is a fantastic confrontation with nature “always already” allegorizing anthropogenic climate change?

Do Animal Studies or human/non-human networks find unique representations or opportunities in fantasy and/or in fantasy audiences?

Do we confront, through Klein, Lacan, Žižek, et al., the “phantasy” in fantasy, linking it to desire, the Other, and radical transformation, or must we also remain discontent with metonymic substitutes as a function of fantasy?

Please submit 1-page abstracts and a short biographical note for proposed articles to James Gifford (gifford@fdu.edu) and Orion Kidder (okidder@sfu.ca) by 31 July 2018. Selected articles (6,000–8,000 words) will then be due by 31 December 2018 for peer-review. The third issue of The New Americanist will be published in Fall 2019 with “Hobgoblins of Fantasy: American Fantasy Fiction in Theory” as its special feature.

CFP Conference on Legacy of Watership Down (6/30/2018; University of Warwick 11/10/2018)

Sounds great. Why can't we have these types of conferences in the US?

(Details on the film at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watership_Down_(film).)


CFP: The Legacy of Watership Down: Animals, Adaptation, Animation, An Interdisciplinary Symposium, University of Warwick
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2018/cfp-the-legacy-of-watership-down-animals-adaptation-animation-an-interdisciplinary-symposium-university-of-warwick/
May 24, 2018

The Legacy of Watership Down: Animals, Adaptation, Animation

deadline for submissions:
June 30, 2018

full name / name of organization:
University of Warwick

contact email:
c.lester.2@warwick.ac.uk


The Legacy of Watership Down: Animals, Adaptation, Animation
An interdisciplinary symposium

University of Warwick
Saturday 10th November 2018

Organised by: Dr Catherine Lester

Keynote speaker: Dr Chris Pallant (Canterbury Christ Church University)

2018 marks 40 years since the release of Watership Down, Martin Rosen’s acclaimed 1978 animated film. Adapted from Richard Adams’ 1972 children’s novel, it tells the tale of a group of anthropomorphised rabbits who flee the imminent destruction of their warren in search of a safe haven. In recognition of the film’s 40th anniversary, this one-day symposium seeks to foster academic discourse on this landmark of British animation from a range of disciplinary perspectives.

A beautifully-realised piece of animation, the film has inspired filmmakers including Guillermo del Toro, Wes Anderson and Zack Snyder. Yet the film is best remembered for its legendary status as an emotionally traumatic viewing experience, especially for children. This is in part due to Art Garfunkel’s tearjerker ‘Bright Eyes’, a hit single written for the film. Watership Down is also known for its graphic violence which seems directly at odds with its BBFC ‘U’ certificate (indicating that is suitable for all ages) and its subject matter of anthropomorphised rabbits. Thanks to this ambiguous status as a ‘children’s film’, Watership Down consistently remains the subject of public debate, as epitomised by public outrage in the UK over Channel 5’s decision to broadcast the film on the afternoon of Easter Sunday two years running. Conversely, the film has recently been raised in favourable comparison to the live-action/CG hybrid Peter Rabbit (2018), spurring questions surrounding the role of violence and matters of taste in children’s media. In addition, Watership Down bears timely socio-political relevance: it demonstrates the dangers of human impact upon the environment and the need to overcome totalitarian authority, as represented in the film by the fascistic villain General Woundwort. In an uncertain political climate that includes the rise of neo-Nazism, it seems more appropriate than ever to ask what audiences of adults and children alike can still learn from this landmark of British animation.

In light of the film’s continued relevance, this symposium seeks to explore Watership Down’s ongoing cultural legacy and impact, 40 years since its first release. This may be in relation to the above themes, but this event also intends to broaden the dialogue beyond these headline-grabbing topics and draw attention to more overlooked aspects of the film’s form, aesthetics, and place in British cinema and animation history. Further possible topics include but are not limited to:

* Adaptation (including the film’s relationship with other adaptations of the novel)
* Music and sound
* Stardom and voice performance
* Genre and generic hybridity (e.g. horror, fantasy, the epic, animal stories, children’s cinema)
* Animal studies (especially representations of rabbits in popular/visual culture)
* The relationship between animals, animation and children’s media
* Representations of nature/the countryside
* Eco-critical perspectives
* Allegory
* Gender and sexuality
* Audience and memory studies
* Fan studies
* Meme studies
* Folklore
* Mortality and morality
* Broadcast, classification and censorship
* The work of Martin Rosen (i.e. Plague Dogs)
* Influences upon Watership Down and its influence upon subsequent media

It is the intention that selected papers from the event will be published in the form of an edited book collection.

Please send 300-word abstracts (for 20-minute papers) with a short author biography to Dr Catherine Lester c.lester.2@warwick.ac.uk by 30th June 2018.

For further information please contact the above address or refer to the website http://watershipdown40.wordpress.com or Twitter @watershipdown40. Funded by the Humanities Research Centre, University of Warwick

CFP Star Trek Discovery Collection (expired)

Sorry to have missed this earlier. It looks like the call was open for less than a month:

CFP: Context is for Kings – An Edited Collection on Star Trek: Discovery
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2018/cfp-context-is-for-kings-an-edited-collection-on-star-trek-discovery/
March 22, 2018

Context is for Kings – An Edited Collection on Star Trek: Discovery

51 years after Star Trek: The Original Series first aired on U.S. American TV, Star Trek: Discovery is updating the franchise for the 21st century. Like TOS was in the 60s, Discovery is firmly rooted in the zeitgeist and current political climate—a fact that has led to surprising amount of backlash from some corners of the fandom. Thanks to the advantage of streaming platforms over network television, the series is also updating the largely episodic structure of the earlier installments to a more serial and coherent storytelling that allows for longer narrative arcs as well as a focus on in-depth character development.

Set 10 years before The Original Series, Discovery is notably darker than any of the previous iterations of the franchise. Depicting the Federation at war with the Klingon Empire, the first season raises questions about identity and othering, war and trauma, and the conflict between idealism and pragmatism. It explores how Starfleet, an organization ostensibly dedicated to exploration and diplomacy, deals with the ethical questions surrounding war, and the lengths people are willing to go to win. These questions are deepened and complicated by the fact that the series, unlike any of the previous entries in the Star Trek canon, focuses not exclusively on the crew of the U.S.S. Discovery and the United Federation of planets, but also presents the events from the point of view of the Klingon Empire. A foray into the Mirror Universe dominated by the fascist Terran Empire throws Starfleet’s ideals and the characters’ struggles to live up to them into even sharper relief.

In addition to the questions raised by the narrative, Discovery has continued the franchise’s commitment to representing diversity on screen. Featuring a woman of color in the lead role, a racially and ethnically diverse main and supporting cast, and introducing the franchise’s first gay couple (played by out gay actors), the show is even more inclusive than any of the previous Star Trek series. Discovery thus has once more proven Star Trek’s continued cultural relevance and has, after only one season, already warranted an in-depth academic study that engages with the series from the perspectives of a variety of academic disciplines, such as cultural studies, gender and queer theory, political science, philosophy, and more.

We thus invite contributions to an edited collection to be published with a notable international publishing house or University Press.

We already have contributions on:

• Military Femininities (Admiral Cornwell, Captain/Emperor Georgiou, Michael Burnham, L’Rell, Silvia Tilly/Captain Killy)
• Gabriel Lorca, Ash Tyler and the Question of Masculinity
•  “‘Lorca, I’m Gonna Miss Killing You:’” Possible Worlds and Counterfactuals in Star Trek: Discovery
• Fan Reception and Discussions of Political and Social Values in Discovery
• Cultural Relevance/Zeitgeist of TOS and Discovery in comparison

List of other possible topics can include, but are not limited to:

• Questions of racial diversity in casting and narrative
• Representation of femininities and masculinities
• LGBTQ representation on and off screen
• Depictions of war and trauma (portrayal of PTSD, torture, rape)
• Fandom (Fanart, fanfiction, conventions, cosplaying, etc.)
• The role of social media and resulting changes to fandom/fan engagement
• Discovery’s relationship to the Star Trek canon and expanded universe (TOS, TNG, DS9, VOY, ENT; Star Trek novels)
• Serial storytelling and world building
• The portrayal of non-human/alien races, particularly the Klingon Empire and the Kelpien Saru
• The role of Science Fiction in the current political moment
• Discovery’s vision(s) of the future
• Depiction of scientific exploration (in general, and its conflict with the war effort in particular)
• Questions of moral philosophy and ethics

The deadline for submissions is April 15, 2018. Please include an abstract (300 words) on the topic you would like to write on, plus a short bio-blurb, and send it as a pdf to Mareike Spychala, M.A. (mareike.spychala@uni-bamberg.de) and Dr. des. Sabrina Mittermeier (Sabrina.Mittermeier@pecess.de).

We will inform all participants by May 15, and full papers (6500-8000 words in length) will have to be submitted by October 31, 2018.

CFP Student Conference on Alterity in Fantasy and Science Fiction (7/15/2018; University of Freiburg 10/19-20/2018)

CFP: Fantastic Beasts, Monstrous Cyborgs, Aliens and Other Spectres: Exploring Alterity in Fantasy and Science Fiction, Student Conference, English Department, University of Freiburg, 19-20 October 2018
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2018/cfp-fantastic-beasts-monstrous-cyborgs-aliens-and-other-spectres-exploring-alterity-in-fantasy-and-science-fiction-student-conference-english-department-university-of-freiburg-19-20-october-20/
April 13, 2018

Fantastic Beasts, Monstrous Cyborgs, Aliens and Other Spectres: Exploring Alterity in Fantasy and Science Fiction

Student Conference, English Department, University of Freiburg, 19-20 October 2018

Identity formation operates through processes of exclusion by defining the self against an other. As Sencindiver et al argue: “[O]therness has been inseparable from human identity and affairs from time immemorial – the birth of subjectivity ineluctably implicates the birth of its concomitant and allegedly dark twin”. Alterity is a concept of ongoing relevance and describes “the quality of strangeness inherent in the other”. The relationship between self and other is based on hierarchical power structures that stem from an essentialist mind-set and serve as justifications of exclusionary practices such as imperialism, sexism and anthropocentrism. With the emergence of postmodern theory in the 1960s, the validity of these hierarchies has been continually called into question. Especially the deconstruction of the divide between high and popular culture led to a pluralisation of perspectives, giving a voice to those who had formerly been excluded and silenced.

Critical theorists such as John Storey have described popular culture itself as an other that is always defined against any other definitions of “culture” and “popular”. It follows that popular culture constitutes a hegemonic site of struggle and thus provides productive ground on which to contrast different discourses surrounding alterity, which can in turn confirm or subvert them. Popular culture is not a mere reflection of current cultural discourses but takes an active role, influencing the various ways in which we perceive and respond to otherness.

We are currently witnessing a proliferation of the genres of science fiction and fantasy, particularly in media such as film or television (consider for example the popularity of films and series such as Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Game of Thrones, the Star Wars sequels, recent Star Trek reboots & prequels and many more). The study of fantasy and science fiction is especially rewarding in the context of analysing representations of alterity. Both genres construct elaborate alternative worlds in which encounters between human characters and sentient nonhuman others call into question the nature of the human and, with it, the boundaries between self and other. The thought experiments that characterise fantasy and science fiction estrange our known reality which promotes an active examination of our world. They throw into relief what we consider as other and provide new models to encounter alterity outside of fiction in the ‘real’ world.

This conference aims to address the representation of alterity in fantasy and science fiction, its impact on cultural practices and its subversive potential. We are interested in the role of form, medium and (sub)genre in negotiations of alterity. We welcome papers analysing popular cultural texts from diverse cultural contexts. Please note that the language of the conference is English.

Potential discussion topics may include, but are not limited to:

• different (re)configurations of the Other (racialised and gendered others, cyborgs, fantastic creatures, animal others, etc.)
• socio-historical perspectives on alterity (reconfigurations of the notion of the subaltern, the uncanny, etc.)
• fictional representations of liminal or hybrid identities
• the influence of philosophy, ethics, science or anthropology (amongst others) on science fiction and fantasy
• negotiations of otherness in different media (i.e. TV, film, podcasts, computer games, web-series, music, transformative works, art, literature, etc.)
• the political impact of ethical representations of alterity

This student conference is organised by two Masters students of British and North American Cultural Studies at the University of Freiburg, Germany, Julia Ditter and Anne Korfmacher. If you are a student (B.A., M.A. or PhD level) and interested in presenting a 20-minute paper at our conference, please submit a short proposal (around 200-250 words) and a short biography (including your current study program) to exploringalterity@anglistik.uni-freiburg.de by 15 July 2018. There is no conference fee to be paid and technical equipment for the presentation will be provided. Conference participants will be responsible for organising and paying for their own accommodation and food.

Please see https://exploringalterity.wordpress.com/cfp/ for more information.

References:

Sencindiver, Susan Yi, Marie Lauritzen and Maria Beville. “Introduction.” Otherness: A Multilateral Perspective, Peter Lang, 2011, p. 17 (pp. 17-42).
Buchanan, Ian. “Alterity.” A Dictionary of Critical Theory, Oxford UP, 2010. Online.
cf. Storey, John. Cultural Theory and Popular Culture. Routledge, 2015. 7th Edition, pp. 13ff.

CFP Frankel's Fourth Wave Feminism in Science Fiction & Fantasy (6/30/2018)

Been meaning to post this:

CFP: Fourth Wave Feminism in Science Fiction & Fantasy
https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2018/cfp-fourth-wave-feminism-in-science-fiction-fantasy/
April 24, 2018

CFP: Fourth Wave Feminism in Science Fiction & Fantasy

deadline for submissions:
June 30, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Valerie Estelle Frankel, editor

contact email:
valerie@calithwain.com

This anthology is seeking to define the new kinds of heroines that science fiction/fantasy films and television are producing right now (it may be split into two collections between these types). Multiple proposals are fine (certainly, non-genre programs are doing the same, but for the time being the scope will be limited to scifi and fantasy films). Hunger Games has been chosen as the cutting-off point – films and television should be later than 2012 and have significant heroines. Though the term is imperfect, these heroines will be described as fourth wave feminist – the authors in the collection can be the trendsetters who help define the term.

Authors are free to give it their own spin without perfect agreement, but fourth wave is being defined as more powerful and diverse heroines who needn’t be softened or sexualized or reduced to sidekicks like those of previous eras. There’s more acknowledgement of a world beyond the US, but the biggest issue setting the fourth wave apart is internet culture: on feminist blogs and online journals, everyone learns the terminology to the point where filmmakers as well as critics apply the Bechdel test and similar lenses. There are flame wars and trends like Gamergate but also diversity campaigns which the producers acknowledge. Filmmakers are discovering that diversity sells and they’re finally producing more of it, though not always perfectly. Basically, Wonder Woman, Black Panther, Frozen, Hunger Games, Force Awakens, and a few other blockbusters are breaking out a new kind of storytelling we’re documenting.

Your essay may analyze a single film on these issues or address a trend in one or more films – that are doing new feminism right or wrong in your opinion. Other media types like gaming or nongenre might be briefly touched on for comparison. You might also address a big issue like the Bechdel Test or whitewashing. Certainly, you’re welcome to use films and shows not mentioned here.

Deadline for proposals June 30 (roughly 300 words, optional bio or CV) to valerie at calithwain.com subject: FOURTH WAVE SUBMISSION

This is planned as a McFarland collection.

Possible topics and trends listed on https://www.academia.edu/36299656/CFP_Fourth_Wave_Feminism_in_Science_Fiction_and_Fantasy.

CFP Spec. Issue on Robert Holdstock (9/21/2018)

CFP: Articles and Reviews on Robert Holdstock’s Writing

https://www.fantastic-arts.org/2018/cfp-articles-and-reviews-on-robert-holdstocks-writing/


Call for Submissions: Articles and reviews on Robert Holdstock’s writing

Robert Holdstock – a celebration of ‘Mythago Wood’


‘No other author has so successfully captured the magic of the wildwood’, Michael Moorcock

Call for Submissions: Articles and reviews on Robert Holdstock’s writing

With the tenth anniversary of Robert Holdstock’s death approaching, the Sussex Centre for Folklore, Fairy Tales and Fantasy seeks articles and reviews with a focus on the author’s Mythago Wood series for publication in Gramarye, its peer-reviewed journal published by the University of Chichester.

Neil Gaiman considers Mythago Wood to be a ‘classic of the literature of fantasy.’ In this spirit we are looking for scholarly and imaginative submissions that will once more take readers in to the heart of the British mythic landscape.


The deadline for this issue is 21 September 2018, and the Guest Editor will be Dr Steven O’Brien.



General Gramarye submissions information

Gramarye is an international, multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed academic journal examining folk narratives, fairy tales and fantasy works, both as independent genres and also in terms of the resonances and dissonances between them and other cultural forms.

There is no charge or fee for submitting an article or abstract.

Articles should be 5,000 – 7,000 words, book reviews c.1,000 words, and submitted as a Word .doc or .rtf attachment to the editor (Email: info@sussexfolktalecentre.org).

All submissions should be accompanied by a 100-word abstract and 100-word biographical note.

Relevant colour image files, along with copyright permission, must also be supplied by the deadline.

For contributions that include any copyrighted materials, the author must secure written permission (specifying “non-exclusive world rights and electronic rights”) to reproduce them. The author must submit these written permissions with their final manuscript. Permission fees are the responsibility of the author.

The deadlines are always 21 March for the summer issue and 21 September for the winter issue. If you would like to receive a complimentary e-book of the most recent issue to check content and style, please request one from assistant Heather Robbins (h.robbins@chi.ac.uk).

Only original articles that are not simultaneously under consideration by another journal will be considered. Unrevised student essays or theses cannot be considered.

Submissions must include all quotations, endnotes, and the list of works cited. References should follow the Chicago Manual of Style.

The copyright for a submission remains with the author at all times.

The peer-review process for Gramarye is as follows:

The paper, edited to fit Gramarye’s house style, will first be sent to the editorial board to approve it for peer review if they find it to be original, interesting, and of value to Gramarye’s readers.
One or two experts in the field of the paper will then be chosen as peer reviewers, in a double-blind process in which neither reviewer nor author identity will be made available to the other.
The reviewers will ascertain the relative strengths and weaknesses of the paper, including but not limited to:

a. whether it is properly referenced,

b.whether any opinion or evidence is presented clearly and is relevant to the overall argument,

c. and whether the language and purpose of the paper and its conclusion are clear and comprehensible.

This takes one to two weeks.

The reviewers’ comments will be returned to the editor, who will ensure the reviewers’ anonymity and return them to the author if any revisions are necessary.
If the author resubmits their revised article to the editor after peer-review and some queries haven’t been addressed, the editorial board will make the final decision on whether the article should be returned to the author to address the remaining issues, or whether it should be published or discarded. The author will be informed about this decision as soon as possible.

Tim Burton's Dumbo!

This is an intriguing development. Tim Burton is directing the live-action version of Dumbo.

NEPCA 2018 Update

I am pleased to report that the Fantastic (Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction) Area will be going out with a bang.

For our final set of sessions set for this year's meeting of NEPCA, the area is sponsoring two sessions on the 200th anniversary of Frankenstein plus five sessions on the fantastic.

Full details to follow.

Michael A. Torregrossa
Fantastic (Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction) Area Chair

CFP Messengers from the Stars 2018 Conference (expired)

Sorry to have missed posting this sooner.

Science Fiction and Fantasy International Conference Messengers from the Stars: Episode V – “Fragments of Humanity”

https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/03/05/science-fiction-and-fantasy-international-conference-messengers-from-the-stars

 

deadline for submissions: 

April 30, 2018

full name / name of organization: 

School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon

contact email: 

mensageirosdasestrelas@gmail.com

Science Fiction and Fantasy International Conference

Messengers from the Stars:  Episode V – “Fragments of Humanity”

School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon

University Lisbon Centre for English Studies

November 29-30, 2018

http://messengersfromthestars.letras.ulisboa.pt/conference-2018/

CALL FOR PAPERS

Science Fiction and Fantasy objects are a permanent part of today’s cultural industry.  From the margins to mainstream culture, their ubiquity demands critical debate beyond the preconception of pop culture made for mass entertainment. The University of Lisbon Centre for English Studies (ULICES) invites you to take part in the 5th International Conference Messengers From the Stars: On Science Fiction and Fantasy to be held at the School of Arts and Humanities, University of Lisbon, on November 29-30, 2018. This year Episode V will focus on the theme “Fragments of Humanity.”

Since its very beginning, Fantasy and SF have questioned essential notions such as: “What does it mean to be human?”; “What are the boundaries of humanity?”; “Are we more or less human than our ancestors?”, among others. These recurrent themes emerged in 18th- and 19th-century writing, namely in the Gothic novel and in works such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886) or in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1818), a book which celebrates its 200th birthday in 2018. Inspired by these pioneering texts and fed by advances in technology, such issues have become more and more complex in Fantasy and SF literature, cinema, TV series, comics and graphic novels, music, and other art forms. What is happening to the human body? Are we still human or are we becoming something else? Are we still whole or fragmented? Are we human, post-human, metahuman and/or transhuman? How can hybrids and monsters allow us to reflect on notions of self and identity? Must we redefine those notions? In that case, what is the role of A.I. in this redefinition? What is the impact of our fragmented humanity on our social environment? What may be the consequences in current and future cultures and their religious belief systems and creeds?

We welcome papers of 20 minutes as well as joint proposals for thematic panels consisting of 3 to 4 participants. Postgraduate and undergraduate students are also welcomed to participate.

Topics may include but are not limited to the following:

▪     Artificial Intelligence;
▪     Ecocriticism;
▪     Fantasy and SF;
▪     Fantasy, SF and ethics;
▪     Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (and later adaptations/reinterpretations of the novel);
▪     Monsters and Monstrosity;
▪     Post-Humanism and Transhumanism;
▪     The Self, Humanity and Identity;
▪     The Other;
▪     Utopias/Dystopias;
▪     Vampires, zombies, werewolves and other undead bodies.

Confirmed keynote speakers:

Filipe Furtado – Full Professor (Faculdade de Ciências Sociais e Humanas – Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and author of A Construção do Fantástico na Narrativa (The Construction of the Fantastic in Narrative)

Mike Carey – British writer of comic books, novels, and films. He is the author of the acclaimed novel the Girl with All the Gifts (2014) which was adapted on screen in 2016. His most recent novel, published in April 2017, is The Boy On the Bridge, a stand-alone novel set in the same world as The Girl With All the Gifts.

Deadlines:
Individual papers, as well as thematic panel proposals, should have 250 words maximum and be sent to mensageirosdasestrelas@gmail.com along with a short biographical note (100 words maximum) by Apr 30, 2018.

Notification of acceptance will be sent by June 4, 2018.

Working Languages: Portuguese and English

Registration[1]:
Early bird registration:  June 4 –14 September
80 € / Students: 40 €
Late bird registration: 14 September – 19 October
100 € / Students: 70 €

Note:
1    Only after proof of payment is registration effectively considered.
2    Participants are responsible for their own travelling arrangements and accommodation.
3    Undergraduate and post-graduate students must send proof of student status with their registration.
4    All sessions are free. However, participants who are not presenting (or co-authoring) and wish to have access to the conference materials and coffee breaks can benefit from a special registration rate: 20€. Registration: June 4 – 26 November.

---

[1] The fee includes attendance at all sessions, conference material, coffee breaks and a certificate of participation.

Last updated March 6, 2018
This CFP has been viewed 935 times. 

CFP Literary Fantasy and its Discontents Conference (8/31/18; Taipei 11/23/24/2018)

 Literary Fantasy and its Discontents

 https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/03/11/literary-fantasy-and-its-discontents

 

deadline for submissions: 

August 31, 2018

full name / name of organization: 

Taipei Tech (National Taipei University of Technology)

contact email: 

LFAIDTaipei@gmail.com

 

In her still influential Fantasy and Mimesis: Responses to Reality in Western Literature (1984), Kathryn Hume defines the literary fantastic as any departure from consensus reality, believing that it holds an equally significant position in literary history as mimesis. Rather than being a recent and sometimes academically marginalized genre, fantasy, for Hume, is integral to almost all literature.
The dialectics between literary fantasies and consensus reality have recently become more relevant than ever: current events remind us of how elusive consensus reality can be. This conference takes this concern over (un)reality as a jumping-off point for our theme: Literary Fantasy and Its Discontents. We hope to have a broad cross-section of papers that consider fantasy in its many forms: both as a (frequently politicized) literary genre or mode and in the word fantasy’s broader meanings of delusion, unconscious wish, or falsehood. How do fantasies assist in the formation of national identities? How do they impact the narratives––be they harmful or beneficial––that nations and people groups tell themselves about their origins, their capabilities, and their future? How do reader responses to the fantastic in literature differ from responses to texts that are predominantly mimetic, and how do these differences condition reception history? How has the fantastic been used in reform movements and the rhetoric of reaction? What are the ethics of literary fantasies (or the fantastic mode), and how have they been applied?

We welcome papers on any topic related to our theme. We hope to have several panels on texts from the medieval, early modern, eighteenth-century, Romantic, Victorian, and twentieth- and twenty-first century periods. While most papers given at this conference will address Anglophone literatures, we also welcome papers (in English) that address non-English or non-literary texts from other regions. As our conference is in Taipei, Taiwan, we particularly hope to organize several panels that address how literary fantasies have been celebrated, used, criticized, or abused in Asia. We are also interested in explorations of the reception history of Western fantasies in the East and Eastern fantasies in the West.

Our keynote speakers are Marysa Demoor (Ghent University) and Ackbar Abbas (University of California, Irvine). Marysa Demoor is author or editor of nearly twenty books, predominately on British and European literature, including the Dictionary of Nineteenth-century Journalism. Her early publications were on folklorist, fairy-tale collector, and journalist, Andrew Lang, and her current research interests include identity, nationhood and histoire croisée. Ackbar Abbas (Hong Kong: Culture and the Politics of Disappearance) is currently working on several projects: a book on ‘Posthumous Socialism’ about China and Hong Kong; a collaborative volume on ‘Volatility’ in contemporary culture and finance; and another volume which he will be co-editing on ‘Poor Theory’.  Abbas's keynote speech is entitled “Documentary As Fantasy; or, Documentary in the Era of Its Impossibility.”

Paper topics include but are not limited to:

• National Epics (The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Iliad, Beowulf, Ossian, Le Morte D’Arthur, the Kalevala, Icelandic Sagas and the Poetic and Prose Eddas, etc.)
• Classical Chinese Novels and Nationalism or Politics: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Water Margin, Journey to the West, Dream of the Red Chamber 
• The politics of or within best-selling literary fantasies such as The Lord of the Rings, the Gormenghast trilogy, The Master and Margarita, The Books of Earthsea, Harry Potter, His Dark Materials, Game of Thrones and others
• Nineteenth-century Fairy Tale Collectors such as the Brothers Grimm, Andrew Lang, and the members of the Folk-Lore Society, and their collections
• Racial Theories and Nationalism, Politics, or (fantastic) Literature, (Matthew Arnold, Ernest Renan, Robert Knox, etc.)
• German philology, folklore, and twentieth-century Nazism
• White nationalism and pseudo-history (Vikings, Anglo-Saxons, etc.)
• Magical Realism and National Identities
• Fantasy and Orientalism
• Fantasy and Taiwanese Identity
• Fantasy and Chinese identity
• Taiwanese or Chinese nationalisms
• Japanese fantasy and Taiwanese identity (from the Japanese colonial period to the present)
• Fantasy and nationalism in Scotland, Wales, Ireland, Catalonia, etc.
• Colonial and Post-colonial nationalisms and literary fantasies
• Political satires written in the fantastic genre such as Gulliver’s Travels 
• Utopias and/or Dystopias
• Sexual Politics and Fantasy (“The Wife of Bath’s Tale,” the Arabian Nights, Game of Thrones, etc.)
• Early Modern writers, fantasy, politics, and nationalism (Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser, Milton, etc.)
• Medievalism (in art, literature, TV and film, gaming, etc.)
• Victorian fantasists and politics: William Morris, Charles Kingsley, George MacDonald, Lewis Carroll, Christina Rossetti, Dinah Mulock, Margaret Oliphant, Tennyson, etc.
• Travelers’ Tales and Nationalism
• Politics and nationalism in children’s literary fantasies
• Fantasy and environmentalism or fantasy and climate change
• Fantasy and revolutions (The French Revolution, the Godwinian school, the work of particular Romantic poets, fantasy and European revolutions, etc.)
• Fantasy and national or ethnic identities
• Politicized fantasies
• Politicized Reception histories of fantasy
• Mao Zedong’s theory of literature and art, later Communist theories of art
• Marxism and fantasies
• Oral Histories and/or Folktales and Cultural Identity
• Fantasy and the Cultural Industry
• Literary fantasy and its publishers
• The international diffusion and reception history of national fantasies across borders
• Repressive governments such as ISIS and North Korea, and their national fantasies
• Politics, Literature, and “Alternative Facts”
• Escapism
• Literary Fantasy and Radical Technologies

Please  submit a 250–300 word abstract and the requested presenter information in one Word or PDF file to the conference e-mail address, LFAIDTaipei@gmail.com, by Friday, August 31, 2018.

We also have an early-consideration deadline, Monday, June 4, 2018, because we will have a significant number of papers from international scholars, who work on a different academic calendar and who may need more time to make long-distance travel plans. Anyone may choose to apply by the June 4 early deadline, and we will respond within two weeks of that date. Abstracts received after June 4 and before August 31 will be considered in early September with results sent by September 15. Papers will be limited to 20 minutes.

The conference will be held on November 23–24, 2018, in Taipei, with companion cultural events on November 22. Detailed information about the conference can be found on our conference website, https://literaryfantasytaipei2018.wordpress.com/.

Last updated April 13, 2018
This CFP has been viewed 1,194 times.

CFP Tolkien Studies Area (10/1/2018; PCA Washington DC 4/17-20/2019)

Here's the second.

CFP: Tolkien Studies

https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/05/24/cfp-tolkien-studies

 

deadline for submissions: October 1, 2018

full name / name of organization: Tolkien Studies, Popular Culture Association

contact email: robin.reid@tamuc.edu

CFP: Tolkien Studies

2019 Popular Cultural Association National Conference

Wardman Park Marriot, Washington, D.C.

Wednesday, April 17, to Saturday, April 20, 2019

DEADLINE:  OCTOBER 1, 2018

The Tolkien Studies Area welcomes proposals for papers, paper sessions, or roundtables in any area of Tolkien Studies (the Legendarium, adaptations, reader reception and fan studies, source studies, literary studies, cultural studies, tourism studies, medieval and medievalist studies, media and marketing, religious studies) from any disciplinary or interdisciplinary perspective.

We welcome individual paper proposals or proposals for paper sessions or roundtable discussions. All sessions are scheduled in 1.5 hour slots, typically with four presenters per paper session or five-seven per roundtable. Paper presentations should not exceed 15 minutes.

Academic and independent scholars and graduate students are encouraged to submit. For individual papers, please submit contact information (name, institutional affiliation if any, mail and e-mail addresses, and telephone number), a title and 200-300-word abstract plus a working bibliography.

For roundtables or complete paper sessions, please submit:

Session Title
Name and contact information for the session organizer
Titles and abstracts for each presenter
Contact information for each presenter

All presenters must set up an account to submit their proposal electronically, must be members of the PCA, and must register for the conference:

http://pcaaca.org/national-conference/proposing-a-presentation-at-the-conference/

For information on PCA, please go to http://www.pcaaca.org

For conference information, please go to http://www.pcaaca.org/national-conference/

Travel and research grants are available: http://pcaaca.org/grants/


Possible topics include but are not limited to:

Adaptation:  Visual Arts
Adaptation:  Tolkien and Game Studies

Gender Studies: Women in Tolkien
Gender Studies: Gender and Tolkien
Gender Studies: Tolkien’s Queering of Genre

Literary Studies: Tolkien and Genre
Literary Studies: Hemingway and Tolkien
Literary Studies: Romanticism and Tolkien

Fandom Studies: Reparative Fan Fiction (Race) and Tolkien
Fandom Studies: Tolkien and Cosplay
Fandom Studies: History of Tolkien Fandom

Methodology: Digital Humanities Tools for Tolkien Scholarship
Methodology: Ethics in Tolkien Studies

Themes: Environmentalism, Ecology, and Tolkien
Themes: Poststructuralism and Tolkien

Religious Studies: Alternate Mythologies/Pagan Readings and Tolkien
Religious Studies: Spirituality and Tolkien
Religious Studies: Catholic Debates in 20th Century and Tolkien
Religious Studies: Oxford Community and Tolkien


1 July                     Database Opens for Submissions
1 October               Registration Opens
1 October               Deadline for Paper Proposals
15 November          Early Bird Registration Rate Ends
1 December            Preliminary Program Available
15 December          "Drop Dead": Unregistered Participants Removed from Program
3 January 2019       Final Program to the Publisher
17-20 April 2019     Washington, D.C.!

For information on the Tolkien Studies area, please contact:

Robin Anne Reid

Department of Literature and Languages

A&M University-Commerce

Commerce, TX 75429

Robin.Reid@tamuc.edu

Or check the Tolkien Studies at Popular Culture Public Group on Facebook.

Last updated May 25, 2018 

CFP Prophecy and Future-telling in Tolkien and Related Authors (10/1/2018; PCA Washington DC 4/17-20/2019)

The first of two Tolkien calls for the night.

Prophecy and Future-telling in Tolkien and Related Authors

https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2018/05/24/prophecy-and-future-telling-in-tolkien-and-related-authors

deadline for submissions: October 1, 2018

full name / name of organization: Tolkien Studies / Tarot & Other Methods of Divination, Popular Culture Association

contact email: robin.reid@tamuc.edu

Prophecy and Future-telling in Tolkien and Related Authors

Call for Papers

Tolkien Studies / Tarot & Other Methods of Divination

at the

Popular Culture Association / American Culture Association conference

http://pcaaca.org/national-conference/

Washington, DC, 17-20 April 2019

And many other things Ilúvatar spoke to the Ainur at that time, and because of their memory of his words, and the knowledge that each has of the music that he himself made, the Ainur know much of what was, and is, and is to come, and few things are unseen by them. Yet some things there are that they cannot see […]  (The Silmarillon)

Future-telling abounds in mythopoeic literature, where it takes on many forms: dreams, intuitions, predictions, premonitions, prophecies, visions, and more. Tolkien made extensive use of future-telling in his writings, particularly The Lord of the Rings. At times, his characters seek knowledge of the future deliberately by studying prophecies, or by the use of tools and special techniques; at others, it comes to them spontaneously through memory and the unconscious.

We are seeking papers on all aspects of future-telling in Tolkien's writings for this co-sponsored session, including, but not limited to, studies of future-telling techniques and effects, relevance to character and plot development, and comparisons to relevant works and characters, such as King Arthur, Merlin, and Macbeth.

We hope to round out the session(s) with papers on future-telling in the works of other Inklings and related authors, notably Charles Williams's The Greater Trumps and C.S. Lewis's Narnia books, and perhaps Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time.

Papers may address any of Tolkien's legendarium and related works and their film adaptations.

Prospective participants in these sessions are asked to submit their papers to the Tolkien Studies area (for tech-related administrative simplicity). Papers addressing other aspects of future-telling should be submitted to the Tarot/Divination area.

Queries are welcomed by both area chairs.

Deadline for Paper Proposals: 1 October 2018

Tolkien Studies Area Chair: Robin Reid Robin.Reid@tamuc.edu
Tarot/Divination Area Chair: Emily E. Auger augeremily@gmail.com

 Last updated May 25, 2018