International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts

More than Marvel: Representations of Norse Mythology in Contemporary Popular Culture (ICoMS Kalamazoo 2019)

deadline for submissions:
September 15, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Michael A Torregrossa / Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

contact email:
Comics.Get.Medieval@gmail.com

More than Marvel: Representations of Norse Mythology in Contemporary Popular Culture

Sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture

54th International Congress on Medieval Studies

Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo, Michigan

9-12 May 2019

Proposals due by 15 September 2018

Myths and legends from the Middle Ages remain important links to the past, and there has been much interest in recasting this material into post-medieval contexts, forging a bridge between our forebears and our modern selves. Creators of our own time have been especially prolific in reviving these stories for new audiences. The tales told of the gods of the Norsemen are one such medieval legacy to find currency today, and they have appeared in a variety of media, including comics. For example, Marvel Comics’ representation of the Norse god Thor has been an important element of its shared world since his debut in 1962, and, in its incorporation of the character into the Marvel Universe, the publisher has done much in the service of Medieval Studies through its widespread dissemination across the globe of a relatable depiction of the Norse Gods and the intricate mythology associated with them. Marvel’s account of Thor and his compatriots has also featured in an array of media beyond the pages of its long-running comic book series, and the recent release of three feature films centered around the Asgardian as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one of the world’s most popular and prosperous movie and television franchises, has provided additional texts to further knowledge of the Nine Worlds and its inhabitants. Nonetheless, while Marvel remains the most prominent creator of modern tales of the Norse gods, the company does not hold the exclusive rights to this material. Other writers, comics creators, filmmakers, television producers, and game designers have also appropriated the stories and legends of the gods of Asgard and further individuals within the cosmology of the Nine Worlds for their own purposes, yet their work remain relatively unknown when compared to the phenomenal success and reach of Marvel Comics and Marvel Studios.

It is the intent of this session to shed the spotlight on these other examples of Nordic-inspired medievalisms and to bring them into ongoing conversations and debates about the reception of the medieval in the post-medieval world. We are especially interested in the reach of Marvel’s versions beyond the United States and how other approaches to the material engage with, react to, or ignore Marvel’s work. In addition, we hope to include coverage of texts from non-Western media (like anime and manga) that have embraced the traditions of the Norse gods in innovative ways.

Potential Topics: (a good starting point is the “Norse mythology in popular culture” page on Wikipedia at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norse_mythology_in_popular_culture)

The Almighty Johnsons
American Gods
Day of the Giants (Lester del Rey)
Fafner in the Azure
Doctor Who
Everworld (K. A. Applegate)
Gods of Asgard (Erik A. Evensen)
Graphic Myths and Legends series
Hammer of the Gods (Michael Avon Oeming and Mark Wheatley)
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys / Xena: Warrior Princess
The Incredible Hulk Returns
Last Days of the Justice Society of America
The Life Eaters (David Brin and Scott Hampton)
Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard (Rick Riordan)
The Mask
The Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok
Mythquest
Norse Myths: A Viking Graphic Novel series
Odyssey of the Amazons (DC Comics)
Oh! My Goddess!
Ragnarok (Myung Jin Lee) / Ragnarok Online
Stargate
Supernatural
Valhalla (Peter Madsens)
Witches of East End

Presentations will be limited to 15 or 20 minutes depending on final panel size.

Interested individuals should submit, no later than 15 September 2018, (1) paper proposal or abstract of approximately 500 words, (2) a 250 to 500-word academic biographical narrative, and (3) a completed Participant Information Form (accessible at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/submissions) to the organizers at Comics.Get.Medieval@gmail.com using “More than Marvel” as their subject heading.

In planning your proposal, please be aware of the policies of the Congress (available at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/policies).

Further information about the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture and its outreach efforts can be accessed at The Medieval in Popular Culture (https://medievalinpopularculture.blogspot.com/).

Of especial interest, the Association hosts sites devoted to both medieval-themed films and comics. These can be accessed at Medieval Studies on Screen (http://medievalstudiesonscreen.blogspot.com/) and The Medieval Comics Project (https://medieval-comics-project.blogspot.com/), respectively.

“I’d Rather Be A Cyborg”: Posthuman and Feminist Approaches to Literary Conceptions of Bodies

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2018

full name / name of organization:
NeMLA 2019

contact email:
forj15@yorku.ca

NeMLA

Washington D.C.

March 19-23

From Donna Haraway’s “Cyborg” to Rosie Bradiotti’s “Vitruvian woman,” posthuman studies and feminist studies have both used images of the female body as tangible metaphors in order to disrupt and critique boundaries and binaries. This roundtable will explore 20th and 21st century literature that illuminates the entanglement and correspondence between posthuman and feminist discourses, specifically in the notion of the female or post-gender body.

Papers for this roundtable are invited to reflect the following questions through literary readings:

What are the conceptual premises for the modern female body and how are they challenged in literary narratives? how do bodily metaphors mobilize, catalyze, or destroy identity? What does it mean to integrate female (or any body) with technology? What trends, novel methods, gaps, or fallbacks are present as posthuman and feminist theories converge? How are bodies shown as political agents through posthuman approaches, particularly in relation to nonhuman figures? Further, how do narrative strategies of the body translate across media or time periods compare or contrast?

Possible approaches include, but are not limited to:

-Evocations and portrayals of the bodies as metaphors in literature

-Hybridity and crossing boundaries

-Processes of inclusivity and exclusivity

– Conceptualizations (or re-conceptualizations) of agency

– Implications of gender and performativity

– Gendered Space and Binaries

– Comparing literary to media representations

– Implications of embodiment (animal bodies, dead bodies, and techne-bodies)

– Adaptations of bodies

– Transhumanism

– Narratives of Post-gender

Session Format: 3-8 participants give brief, informal presentations (8-10 minutes) and the session is open to conversation and debate between participants and the audience.

Sumbit Abstracts for NeMLA 50th anniversary convention here: http://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention/callforpapers.html

Contact Forrest Johnson (York University)

forj15@yorku.ca

Brutal Themes in Brutal Times: Teaching Edgar Allan Poe in a Culture of Violence

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Northeast Modern Language Association

contact email:
chendricks@goodwin.edu

This panel seeks papers that explore pedagogical strategies for teaching the horror stories of Edgar Allan Poe and his contemporaries. With the looming, true-to-life violence bombarding us every day in the news and in other media outlets, the macabre tales of our favorite authors resonate too well. Teaching the violent and psychologically disturbing short stories of Poe, and others writing in this genre, can be challenging in the current climate of violence in America. Exploring the depths and darkness of humanity through literature can be traumatic for contemporary students who are bombarded with violent words and images every day through social media and news outlets. This panel seeks papers that explore pedagogical strategies devoted to travelling through dark literary themes while maintaining a safe atmosphere in the classroom. How can instructors align class discussions, specifically the ones that take a sociopolitical turn, to heal the contemporary student in an America riddled with nihilism, senseless violence, and psychological desperation? The significance of this panel is to uncover innovative teaching strategies when bringing students classic horror tales for discussion in the milieu of a terrorizing era in American history.

Stephen King Area (2019 PCA National Conference)

deadline for submissions:
October 1, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Patrick McAleer/Popular Culture Association

contact email:

stephenkingpca@gmail.com
Stephen King Area

2019 PCA/ACA Annual National Conference

Washington D.C.: Wednesday, April 17th-Saturday, April 20th

The co-chairs of the Stephen King Area—Philip Simpson of Eastern Florida State College and Patrick McAleer of Inver Hills Community College—are soliciting papers, presentations, panels and roundtable discussions which cover any aspect of Stephen King’s fiction and film for the Annual National Joint Popular Culture Association/American Culture Association Conference to be held in Washington D.C. from April 17th-April 20th 2019. Papers, presentations, and panels can cover King’s experimentation with medium (e-books, graphic novels, TV series), his more recent fictions, including his Dark Tower series, and anything in between. Indeed, feel free to view past programs of the PCA/ACA conference at www.pcaaca.org to see what has been covered during recent conferences.

To have your proposal/abstract considered for presentation, please submit your proposal/abstract of approximately 250 words through the PCA/ACA Database—http://ncp.pcaaca.org/ — by October 1st, 2018. Here you will submit your paper proposal/abstract and also provide your name, institutional affiliation, and contact information. Responses/decisions regarding your proposals will be provided within two weeks of your submission to ensure timely replies. Of course, should you have any questions specific to the Stephen King Area, please send an e-mail to stephenkingpca@gmail.com and we will be happy to assist you.

Complete panel proposals of 3-4 people are also welcomed, as are proposals for roundtable discussions with two or more featured speakers and a moderator. For more information, visit the PCA/ACA at www.pcaaca.org.

Margaret Atwood’s Borders and Intersections of Culture, Language and Peoples

deadline for submissions:
September 30, 2018

full name / name of organization:
Louisa MacKay Demerjian/NeMLA

contact email:
lmdemerjian@gmail.com

This panel session is sponsored by the Margaret Atwood Society and will take place during the 2019 NeMLA (Northeast Modern Language Association) convention in Washington D.C.

Margaret Atwood is a world renowned writer who has always identified herself specifically as a Canadian writer, even at a time when it was argued (even within Canada) that Canadian Literature didn’t exist. Her identity as a Canadian is important to her but, over the course of her career, her novels have revealed a progression to a more global viewpoint. Atwood’s earlier work might invite analysis of internal borders (between Canadian provinces, between urban and natural spaces and in the psychic spaces of her characters) whereas her later work more clearly offers opportunities to examine transnational spaces.

This panel would examine Atwood’s use of borders, literal and figurative, and the intersections of culture, language and peoples that result from crossing those borders. Atwood’s most recognized works, especially recently, are The Handmaid’s Tale and her Maddaddam trilogy. Abstracts are welcome on any of her work but the goal of the panel would be to look at more than her most famous novels and to do some comparative analysis. We might look at her fiction over the years but Atwood also writes poetry and non-fiction. In fact, Atwood writes in many genres and her “borders” between the genres are not always absolute. This panel would be open to considering borders of many types and looking at where intersections result or where cultures, languages and peoples remain separate and distinct.

Please go to https://www.nemla.org and create a username account (free) to submit your abstract. The deadline for submitting an abstract is September 30, 2018.

ComiqueCon: Celebrating Women in Comics

deadline for submissions:
July 31, 2018

full name / name of organization:
ComiqueCon

contact email:
kinoclub313wsu@gmail.com

Call for Papers:

ComiqueCon (Dearborn, MI)

Deadline for submissions:

July 31, 2018

Conference location/date:

October 13, 2018; Arab American National Museum, Dearborn, Michigan

The goal of this conference:

ComiqueCon is a one-day celebration of the amazing work of female and non-binary comic creators. Join us in Metro Detroit for this one-of-a-kind event, and check out our featured guests, awesome sponsors, and talented exhibitors!

This year’s ComiqueCon will include an academic track with paper presentations and workshops related to the general theme of women in comics. Papers should be accessible to a general audience; please be sure to define your terms and give context for any theoretical or discipline-specific arguments you reference.

Topics might include the following:

Comics, graphic novels, sequential art, manga and feminist theory

Women in the comics industry – writers, artists, editors, shop owners, etc.

Intersectional identities in comics and graphic novels

The comics industry and #MeToo, #Comicsgate, and sexual harassment culture

Representation of women in comics and related texts – superhero films, action figures, merchandise, promotional materials, etc.

Queer representations of women in comics

Representation of motherhood and maternity in comics

Genre-specific representations of women (in romance comics as compared to action comics, for example)

Paper Proposals: Paper proposals must include an abstract of 300-500 words and an author biography of 100 words or less. Pre-constituted panels of three to four presenters are also welcome, and should include, in addition to individual paper abstracts and biographies, a 150-200 word panel proposal that details the way the papers connect together and how the panel will engage with the conference theme.

Workshops: Workshops may have up to three facilitators. Workshop proposals must include a brief explanation of topic (250-500 words), a list of facilitators, and a biography of 100 words or less for each facilitator. Workshop proposals should be skill-focused and can be: creative (making comics, zines, fan art, etc.) or pedagogy-oriented (how to teach with comics, etc.).

Due Date:

July 31, 2018

Presenters will be notified of acceptance into the conference via email by August 17, 2018.

All inquiries and proposals should be sent to kinoclub313wsu@gmail.com.

Things That Go Bump in the North: Canadian Horror Media

deadline for submissions:
July 31, 2018

full name / name of organization:
UOIT

contact email:
andrea.braithwaite@uoit.ca

Things That Go Bump in the North: Canadian Horror Media

Horror stories speak of our fears. In doing so, horror stories also speak of our everyday, our “normal,” as this ordinariness is quickly thrown into disarray. Things That Go Bump in the North will look at Canadian horror across media – from fiction, film, and television to games, graphic novels, and web series. This edited collection considers what Canadian horror texts can tell us about Canadian culture, media, history, and politics. Things That Go Bump in the North aims to see horror stories as stories about nation, as sites for critical reflection on the meanings and uses of “Canada” in this genre – and what we are terrified to lose, or perhaps keep.

This collection deliberately uses “Canadian” and of “horror” loosely in order to more fully explore the cultural work of horror stories. By “Canadian,” we seek texts that are by, in, and/or about Canada or Canadians; “horror” includes inflections like the gothic and the grotesque, the silly and the supernatural. We encourage diverse submissions from a range of critical approaches and research methods; we are particularly excited about work that addresses Indigenous, diasporic, and other underrepresented productions and perspectives.

Topics may include and are not limited to:

-A specific creator or creative team

-A singular media form, text, or series

-Adaptations and transformations

-Generic hybrids

-Regional or community-specific horror stories

-Studies of fans, audiences, and reception contexts

-Historical horror tales and texts

-Co-productions and international ventures

-Alternate histories and horrifying futures

-Industry and/or policy analysis

-Transmedia texts and storytelling

-True crime texts

Proposals of not more than 250 words will be due by July 31 2018. Final essays of approximately 6000-8000 words, including all notes and references in Chicago author-date style will be due by April 30 2019. Please direct inquiries and proposals to: andrea.braithwaite@uoit.ca and p.greenhill@uwinnipeg.ca.

Academia Lunare

Academia Lunare is the Luna Press Publishing academic branch for Fantasy and Science Fiction.

One of the most exciting aspects of fandom is the critical assessment of literature, as a way to show one’s love for a particular author or body of work. Speculative non-fiction is also a mirror for society, with an eye cast into the future.

The Evolution of Evil in Fantasy and Science Fiction
​
We are very proud to announce our third Call For Papers. The theme of the 2018 CfPs is: “The Evolution of Evil in Fantasy and Science Fiction”.

Our first call for papers, “Gender and Sexuality in Fantasy and Science Fiction” received 2 BSFA Awards nomination and one BSFA Awards shortlist. The second call for papers, “The Evolution of African Fantasy and Science Fiction”, will be out this summer.

It is time for a new challenge!

Writers are invited to explore the concept of evil in all its shapes and developments, in literature, games, movies and TV.

Here is some food for thought, though it should not restrict your own ideas:

​Focus on a specific character which has embodied the concept of evil

The development of a specific archetypal character which, over the course of the centuries, has undergone a transformation from neutral/positive figure into an evil one, or vice versa – historical and socio-political influences that brought about this transformation

Development of a representative type of evil over time (trolls, fairies, mad gods, dark lords, vampires, demons, etc.)

The impact of religion on folklore

Latest incarnations of evil mirroring socio-political changes

Latest incarnations of evil in general

Evil as an embodiment of modern society

Evolution of evil through the ages

Possible representations of minorities as evil

Creating evil – what makes a successful villain?

Heroes as villains

Other representations of evil, e.g. hostile environments. Music as a tool for implying threat and hostility

​
Before you start, get in touch! Send us an email either with your abstract or simply to let us know what topic you intend to explore: it is perfectly fine to have more than one author discussing the same topic, as long as the angle is different.

Word Limit: up to 6,000 words.

Full references for citations must be included using Harvard referencing style. Download the full guide and the quick guide on the Academia Lunare page.

Closing Date: 30th of November 2018.

Publishing contract for all participants, with shared royalties from each sale and a free copy of the book.

Do not fear if this is your first non-fiction work: if you love research, you need a chance to start somewhere. Take a look at the past two Call For Papers blog posts and explore the articles submitted – it may help you decide your course of action.

For more information, please see https://www.lunapresspublishing.com/academialunare.