Uses of Fantasy in Changing Media Landscape
October 20–21, 2016, University of Jyväskylä
Jyväskylä, Finland
In recent years, fantasy fiction has gained popularity in different mediums. For instance, in television fantastic or speculative themes are more visible than ever before, and – as television scholar J. P. Telotte has noted – they are even invading the so called reality television. The Uses of Fantasy seminar focuses on the uses and users of fantasy in contemporary culture and contemporary representation of fantasy in different cultural mediums. In other words, the seminar concentrates on the reception, representation and meaning of fantasy in a changing media landscape. The seminar is organised by the project Uses of Fantasy – The World Hobbit Project in Finland in cooperation with the University of Jyväskylä and The Research Centre for Contemporary Culture.
We invite presentations and panels on the uses and users of fantasy as well as on the contemporary representations of fantasy on different mediums, such as literature, television, film, comics and graphic novels, games and new media. These may include but are not limited to:
– Audience responses and the meanings of fantasy; affective attachments to fantasy; fantasy fandom and other participatory user practices
– Adaptation and transmedia; representing fantasy via different mediums
– The cultural meanings of fantasy; representations of cultural phenomena through fantasy; the politics of fantasy (e.g. in relation to gender, sexuality, ethnicity, age, class, disability etc.)
– Fantasy and narration; fantastic characters; fantastic genres (science fiction, horror etc.)
Proposals for scholarly papers from any academic discipline that seek to examine, interrogate, and expand research related to any aspect of uses of fantasy, in any medium are welcome. Papers will be allowed a maximum presentation time of 20 minutes.
Our keynote speakers will be:
Associate Professor Susana Tosca from the IT University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Professor Emerita Liisa Rantalaiho from the University of Tampere, Finland
Professor Emeritus Martin Barker from Aberystwyth University, UK
Please submit a 500-word proposal describing the content of your proposed paper, and few words about yourself and your research (including your current affiliation) to hobbitprojectfinland(at)gmail.com. The deadline for the proposals is September 5, 2016.
If you have any questions about the seminar, please contact hobbitprojectfinland(at)gmail.com.
For more information, see https://theworldhobbitprojectfinland.com/seminar/