Call for Book Proposals - Transmedia Villains and Creatures (11/1/2024)

Book series VILLAINS AND CREATURES

deadline for submissions:
November 1, 2024

full name / name of organization:
Lexington Books

contact email:
isonisanna@hotmail.com

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/04/08/book-series-villains-and-creatures

TRANSMEDIA VILLAINS AND CREATURES



This new series by Lexington Books aims to cover the fascinating subject of villains and threatening creatures through an interdisciplinary perspective represented by fields as different as literary, film, religious, gender and art studies as much as philosophy and sociological and ecocritical approaches. Each volume will focus on a single figure (or group of figures) and examine it in its multiple incarnations, from their origins in myth, folklore and history as well as in a literary text, to their various adaptations in different media, including comics, graphic novels, cinema, TV, exhibitions, the visual arts, merchandise, fandom and tourist attractions.



We welcome both edited collections and monographs, but the requirements of the volumes will be their interdisciplinarity and their focus on the issues of adaptation and transmediality. Also, a (global) cultural studies’ approach will be particularly favored (disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and ethnicity will be more than welcome for the examination of villains and creatures). Proposals may include (but are certainly not limited to) the following figures:

Dracula
The werewolf
The mummy
The Golem
Doppëlgangers
Hybrids
Animal-human hybrids (experiments, but also minotaurs, centaurs, as well as lesser-known hybrids)
Clones
Experiments

10. Mad scientists

11. Serial killers

12. Aliens

13. Ghosts

14. Spirits

15. Gods, demi-gods and mythological creatures (from any mythology)

16. Machines

17. Cyborgs

18. Androids

19. Dragons

20. Underwater creatures

21. Shapeshifters

22. Mutants and mutations

23. Freaks

24. Tyrants, dictators and warlords (including historical figures)

25. Crimelords, cult leaders, masterminds

26. Orcs, ogres and trolls

27. Folklore figures

28. Statues, dolls, puppets and animated objects

29. Satan, demons and Biblical figures

30. Cryptids

31. Supervillains

32. Slashers

33. Boogeymen

34. Diseases and plagues

35. Carnivorous Plants

36. Hostile Fungi

37. Magical creatures



We will gladly welcome any queries by prospective authors/editors for the preparation of a proposal. Please contact Dr. Antonio Sanna (isonisanna@hotmail.com).


Last updated April 10, 2024

CFP Journal of Dracula Studies 2024 (5/1/2024)

Journal of Dracula Studies

deadline for submissions:
May 1, 2024

full name / name of organization:
Journal of Dracula Studies

contact email:
journalofdraculastudies@kutztown.edu

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/04/13/journal-of-dracula-studies

past issues are accessible at: https://research.library.kutztown.edu/dracula-studies/

We invite manuscripts of scholarly articles (4000-6000 words) on any of the following: Bram Stoker, the novel Dracula, the historical Dracula, the vampire in folklore, fiction, film, popular culture, and related topics.

Submissions should be sent electronically (as an e-mail attachment in .docx). Please indicate the title of your submission in the subject line of your e-mail.

Please follow MLA style.

Contributors are responsible for obtaining any necessary permissions and ensuring observance of copyright.

Manuscripts will be peer-reviewed independently by at least two scholars in the field.

Copyright for published articles remains with the author.

Send electronic submissions to journalofdraculastudies@kutztown.edu


Last updated April 16, 2024

CFP Monstrous Mother in Literature (Spec Issue Esferas Literarias) (7/15/2024)

Monograph: The monstrous mother in Literature

deadline for submissions:
July 15, 2024

full name / name of organization:
Esferas Literarias

contact email:
almudena.nido@ui1.es

source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2024/04/15/monograph-the-monstrous-mother-in-literature

CALL FOR PAPERS: Esferas Literarias nº 7 (2024)

Monograph: The monstrous mother in Literature

The role of the mother is sacred to many cultures since prehistoric times, as it is regarded as the main generative and nurturing power for the origin of life as well as the main agent for childcare. This maternal role is therefore not only defined by biology and birthing, but also by social constructs that focus on the expected role of woman as carer, protector, and nurturer of any child. However, as the first experience the subject has of a distinctive other, the maternal body constitutes the most foreign, unknowable space in human experience. In fact, the womb is considered in itself a threshold that marks a relation of energy and space in the biological processes between two bodies that imply that one is created and/or dependant from the other. Even if endowed by society of these positive features, the maternal body contains the possibility of death, horror, rejection, and disgust. This ambiguity and potential transgression of normative and clear-cut borders recall the figure of the monster in both the symbolic and the physical manifestations. It may also entail how the mother's presence and behaviours are perceived as monstrous by others due to social and ethical conventions of what constitutes to be human and/or to be a mother.

We ask contributors to explore the representations in literature of monstrous mothers and monstrous forms of mothering that do not comply with normative embodiment or social conventions about the idea of mother. Articles may respond to some of the following thematic lines, but these are not restrictive:

• Representations of deviant and abnormal motherhood: This could include representations of mother figures who deviate or subvert in any way the normative physical embodiment or the dominant cultural ideals that expect them to be feminine, compassionate, caring, selfless, self-sacrificing, etc. We are interested in contributions that analyse representations of the monstrous mother as a symbol of generative power/untamed nature, as non-human, animal hybrid, inorganic, uncaring, violent, etc.
• Reproductive horrors and the monstrous body: this includes representations of any biological process that pertains to the maternal body and associates it with the abject. We are interested in contributions which explore narratives that feature menstruation, pregnancy, birth, miscarriage, abortion, death, etc., and relate it to the monstrous body and the experience of mothering.
• The relationship between monstrous mothers and space: We are interested in contributions which explore the possible relationship between the monstrous mother and the spaces where the child-mother dyad takes place or is expected to take place. This could include human habitations like the haunted mansion, or natural spaces like the cave.

Contributions can focus on the figure of the monstrous mother in any literary form, genre or subgenre, produced in any language or cultural context.

The proposed topics can be approached from diverse theoretical perspectives (Cohen’s monster theses; monster theory; psychoanalysis; affect theory; disability studies; race, cultural, postcolonial and decolonial studies; queer studies; women’s and gender studies; ecocriticism, among others).

The articles can be written in English or Spanish.

Articles must follow the guidelines of the journal and must be submitted through the journal’s website: https://journals.uco.es/index.php/Esferas/about/submissions


Last updated April 16, 2024

Reminder CFP 10th Biennial Slayage Conference (4/12/2024 deadline for proposals)

Call for Proposals for the Twentieth Anniversary Slayage Conference

10th Biennial Slayage Conference

Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, California
July 18-21, 2024

BUFFY LIVES!



Slayage: The International Journal of Buffy+ and the Association for the Study of Buffy+ invite proposals for the twentieth anniversary  Slayage Conference—the tenth biennial (SC10). Devoted to creative works and workers of the ‘fuzzy set’ surrounding Buffy the Vampire Slayer, SC10 will be held on the campus of California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California, on 18-21 July 2024. This twentieth anniversary conference will be organized by Local Arrangements Chair Lewis Call.

We welcome proposals of 200-300 words (or an abstract of a completed paper) on any aspect of Buffy+ television, film, comics, and web texts. The name Buffy recalls the significance of scholarly examinations of feminism, but Slayage is much more. The “plus” is meant to be a sign of inclusivity, both for scholars and texts.



The plus-mark is meant to invite analyses of not only Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse, etcetera, but also the work of all the various creators—writers, directors, actors, editors, composers, etc.-involved with those texts as well as (primarily visual) media more or less resembling Buffy (where ‘resemblance’ is likewise subject to further discussion). In other words, the plus-mark indicates the “fuzzy set” of which Buffy is the center. Drawing on Brian Attebery's description in Strategies of Fantasy, the fuzzy set is “defined not by boundaries but by a center.” Hence, a scholar applying to Slayage Conference 10 might use Buffy as a yardstick to tell us why we should consider their chosen topic to be part of this fuzzy set, which might include the following,

“high stakes TV” with a kick-ass young female lead;


movie or book series concerned with the frequent irruption of the supernatural into the mundane;


texts that feature snarky humor and linguistic play; strong characterization, an emphasis on relationships, and long story arcs spanning a season or more; moral dilemmas; stylish but affordable boots; starship captains with tight pants; or other stylistic, aesthetic, or thematic issues associated with Buffy, Angel, Firefly, etc.



Moreover, the “plus” specifically alludes to LGBTQIA+, too, one of the important touchstones of the original series. The complexities of queerness are part of the intriguingly nuanced nature of many of these texts. The conference was established to provide a venue for writing about good work, but good works are not perfect, and scholarship should strive to see clearly. LGBTQIA+ texts and scholars have been an important part of this clear-sighted assessment, and SC10 would be strengthened by further contributions in light of contemporary scholarship



Importantly, the “plus” is meant to refer to the need to counteract a “minus”—that is, the scarcity of Latinx and Black, Indigenous, Person of Color representations in Buffy (the Original Sin of the Buffy text) as well as problematic representations in that and related texts. Since Kent Ono’s 2000 essay “To Be a Vampire on Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” scholars have been examining these matters. However, a great deal remains to be done—again, not just on Buffy but also on related texts.



Multidisciplinary approaches (literature, philosophy, political science, history, communications, film and television studies, women’s studies, religion, linguistics, music, cultural studies, art, and others) are all welcome. A proposal/abstract should demonstrate familiarity with already-published scholarship in the field, which includes dozens of books, hundreds of articles, and over twenty years of the peer-reviewed journal Slayage. Proposers may wish to consult the annotated Oxford University Press bibliography on Buffy the Vampire Slayer as well as the Slayage contents list and the bibliography housed at the ASB+ website.



An individual paper is strictly limited to a maximum reading time of 20 minutes, and we encourage, though do not require, self-organized panels of three presenters. Proposals for workshops, roundtables, or other types of sessions are also welcome. Submissions by graduate and undergraduate students are invited; undergraduates should provide the name, email, and phone number of a faculty member willing to consult with them (the faculty member does not need to attend). A limited number of hybrid slots will be provided. Proposals should be submitted online to slayage.conference@gmail.com and will be reviewed by program chairs James Rocha, Jessica Hautsch, and Rhonda V. Wilcox. Submissions must be received by April 12, 2024. Decisions will be made no later than April 31; however, a rolling response to early submissions will be provided.  Questions regarding proposals can be directed to the conference email address: slayage.conference@gmail.com.