This page includes calls for upcoming ImageTexT issues as well as calls for various journals and collections. Please email the editors if you would like a call added.
Editors:
Vanessa Raney, Southern Connecticut State University
Peter F. Coogan, Fontbonne University
One can locate scholarship on the ideological and mythic status of
superheroes in which the social and fantastic collide to offer
interesting but primarily theoretical constructions on the privileging
of norms in society. Our book collection hopes to contribute to this
burgeoning field by examining more closely the role of trauma in the
superhero saga, especially the ways that it gets encoded, transcribed,
and received. Thus, we seek submissions focused on Marvel and DC style
superheroes (that is, protagonists of the superhero genre only, not
all super heroes: ordinary heroes who are super or superior like the
way firefighters and policeman were depicted after 9/11) and trauma.
By looking to both the villains and the heroes, we intend
to trace the onset of traumatic realism and the masculinity emboldened
by it even when the subject is female. Does, for example, Mary
Wollstonecraft's view of "masculine women" still hold as a standard
for today's liberal woman as represented in the crimefighter or femme
fatale? Are male heroes necessarily tragic because in their
humanization, they must mask their subversions to feminine gestures of
pain by concealing them in costume?
We do not wish simply to point to particular junctures of
traumatism, but to grapple with their significance in a continual
cycle that makes superheroes and villains both inside (unmasked) and
outside (masked), both accepted (human) and reviled (suprahuman), both
tragic (real) and stoic (imaginary), etc. Because we seek to separate
the oppositions of supervillain and superhero, we are interested in
papers that address any superhero or supervillain in any serialized
comics or adaptations in film, television and novels from within and
outside the United States. Essays should include an extensive foray
into the psyches, histories, and redoubling into tragedy (whether
compounded or relived), etc. of superheroes and villains.
We hope to publish perspectives from various fields,
including English, Cultural Studies, History, Psychology, Sociology,
etc., and approaches to the subject that are broadly
inclusive. Collaborations are also encouraged (e.g, between a linguist
and a traumatist); if you would like to be paired with someone, let us
know and we will see what we can do to make it happen.
If interested in contributing, please submit a 500 word
abstract with name, affiliation (school, other), mailing address,
e-mail, and phone number to Vanessa Raney (raneyv2@southernct.edu or
raneyv@juno.com) and Peter Coogan (PCoogan@Fontbonne.edu), Editors, no
later than April 7, 2006. Notifications of acceptance will be made by
July 15, 2006, with final papers due by Sept. 30, 2006.
Mechademia
is a forthcoming academic journal for writing about anime, manga and
the fan arts. It will be published annually by the University of
Minnesota Press.
Full
journal information
The Eleventh Annual
INTERNATIONAL COMIC ARTS FESTIVAL (ICAF)
October 12-14, 2006
The Library of Congress, James Madison Building, Washington, D.C.
The International Comic Arts Festival invites scholarly paper
presentations for its eleventh annual meeting, to be held at the
Madison Building of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., from
Thursday, October 12, through Saturday, October 14, 2006. We welcome
proposals from a variety of disciplines and theoretical
perspectives. All proposals should address the history, aesthetics,
cultural significance or critical reception of comic art (including
comic strips, comic books, albums, graphic novels, political cartoons,
other panel cartoons, caricature, or comics in electronic media).
Proposals will be refereed via blind review.
PROPOSAL GUIDELINES
For its scholarly presentations, ICAF prefers argumentative, thesis-driven papers, clearly linked to larger critical, artistic or cultural issues. We strive to avoid presentations that are merely summative or survey-like in character. Where possible, papers should be illustrated by relevant images ( e.g., slides, transparencies). In all cases, presentations should be timed to finish within the strict limit of TWENTY (20) MINUTES (roughly eight to nine typed, double-spaced pages).
Proposals should not exceed 300 WORDS. At the bottom of the proposal, the author should precisely state her/his audiovisual equipment needs. Note that ICAF cannot provide a VCR, freestanding DVD player, or monitor. Proposals requiring computers or data projection equipment should include exact system specifications. Presenters relying on computers are urged to bring their own equipment for backup, including adaptors. (Though ICAF strives to meet basic equipment needs, we cannot guarantee the availability or compatibility of computer equipment.)
REVIEW PROCESS: All proposals will be subject to blind review by the ICAF Executive Committee, with preference given to proposals that observe the above standards. The final number of papers accepted will depend on the needs of the conference program as it develops. (In past years ICAF has typically accepted one third to one half of the proposals it has received.)
SEND ABSTRACTS (with COMPLETE contact information) BY March 15, 2006, TO:
Prof. C cile Danehy
ICAF Program Coordinator
Department of French Studies
Wheaton College
26 Main Street
Norton, MA 02766 USA
or via email at cdanehy@wheatoncollege.edu
Submitters should expect to receive confirmation of acceptance or
rejection by 1 May 2006.
Call For Papers: "Ever-Ending Battle" - Special Symposium on Heroism &
Mortality in Comics for Spring 2006 International Journal of Comic Art issue.
The International Journal of Comic Art (IJOCA) is pleased to welcome
submissions for the upcoming symposium in its Spring 2006 edition 8.1. The
wide focus of the symposium, entitled "The Ever-Ending Battle," will be
on issues of mortality in comics, particularly, but not exclusively, the
relationship between death and heroism.
Do media such as comic books, comic strips, editorial cartoons, or graphic
novels treat death, mourning, bereavement, or even resurrection/rebirth
differently from other forms? What are superheroes' relationship to death?
How do satirists address the passing of a major real-life figure? What
happens when a comic strip creator dies, yet his/her work lives on? Are
heroes allowed to mourn (and what allows them to be so often resurrected)?
Topics abound - From Superman to little Orphan Annie to the late
Hirschfeld to cartoons of Arafat to the rebirth of Green Lantern...and
beyond! Papers utilizing the thanatological works of Ernest Becker or
Elizabeth Kubler-Ross are especially encouraged.
Submissions are asked to be approximately 5,000 words in MLA format and
delivered in Windows-based Microsoft Word, Word Perfect, or rtf formats,
either on a computer diskette by postal mail or as an attached file by
November 26, 2005 to:
A. David Lewis
IJOCA Ever-Ending Battle Symposium
15 Glenville Avenue #5
Allston, MA 02134
eeb@captionbox.net
Writers will be notified by December 7 and should be prepared to quickly
perform final edits for IJOCA's December 15 deadline. All potential images
to be included with the article should be scanned at 300 dpi, converted to
black and white JPG format, and submitted with the original November file.
Please remember to include full contact information with each submission.
See www.ijoca.com and www.everendingbattle.com
for additional background
materials.
CFP: Drawn by the Fantastic: Art in Fantasy and Science Fiction (11/30/05; ICFA,
3/15/06-3/19/06)
27th Annual International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts
March 15-19, 2006
Wyndham Ft. Lauderdale Airport Hotel
Dania, Florida
Guest of Honor: Charles Vess
Guest Scholar: M. Thomas Inge
Special Guest Writer: Kathleen Ann Goonan
Deadline for Submissions: November 30, 2005
The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, held each
March in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is a gathering of scholars, editors,
writers, artists, and poets interested in discussion of fantasy, science
fiction, and horror in literature, film and television, and other forms
of popular culture. The conference is sponsored by the International
Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, an academic association with
members from many different countries.
The focus of ICFA-27 is on the fantastic in media other than the written
word or film, including comics and graphic novels, web design and photo
manipulation, cover art and illustration, picture books and pulps, film
posters and CD covers, trading cards and tarot cards, cityscapes and
landscapes, maps and tattoos and costuming, not to mention the stuff you
hang on walls.
Examine the role of art and artists as subjects of the fantastic, or the
influence of the fantastic, written or filmed, on the world of art.
Explore the construction of race and gender in images of vampires,
elves, and aliens.
In addition, we look forward to papers on the work of Guest of Honor
Charles Vess, Guest Scholar M. Thomas Inge, and Special Guest Writer
Kathleen Ann Goonan.
As always, we also welcome proposals for individual papers and for
academic sessions and panels on any aspect of the fantastic in any media.
The deadline for submission of proposals is November 30, 2005.
Keep checking www.iafa.org for updated information on the association,
conference guests, registration, and submission information, as well as
further details on suggested topics for academic papers and panels.
Tenth Anniversary Conference to be Held at the Library October 13-15,
2005
WASHINGTON, D.C.--The International Comic Arts Festival (ICAF) is
proud to announce it will hold its tenth anniversary conference at
the Library of Congress in 2005.
ICAF is an international summit for scholars, creators, and enthusiasts
of comics and cartoon art. The three-day event includes academic papers,
chalk talks by distinguished cartoonists, and lectures by scholars
from around the globe. While ICAF has been held in the Washington,
D.C. area since its inception in 1995, ICAF 2005 marks the first time
ICAF has joined with the Library of Congress.
ICAF 2005 will take place from Thursday, October 13 through Saturday,
October 15, at the James Madison Building of the Library of Congress,
with the generous support of the Library?s Prints and Photographs
Division and the Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation for Caricature
and Cartoon. The Swann Foundation, administered by the Library of
Congress, supports the study, interpretation, preservation and appreciation
of cartoon art from around the world, and has frequently sponsored
lectures and exhibits related to comics. (For more on the Swann Foundation,
please consult its Web site at
"We're very excited about holding ICAF at the Library of Congress,
and grateful for the support of the Library and the Swann Foundation,"
says ICAF Chair Charles Hatfield. "Working with the Library gives
us a rare opportunity to encourage the serious study of comics and
cartooning. The Swann Foundation is a perfect partner, and the Library
the perfect place to bring together scholars and the general public--a
historic venue known for its great collections and its support of
important research, not to mention its beauty and its great location."
Dr. Jeremy Adamson, chief of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs
Division, notes, "Few people realize that the Library is home to one
of the world's great collections of original cartoon art, encompassing
virtually the entire history and scope of comics. Recognizing the
scholarly significance of cartoons as potent vehicles of social and
political commentary, and spontaneous expressions of contemporary
fashion, values, and attitudes, we are pleased to support ICAF 2005."
ICAF is currently in the process of soliciting paper proposals and
inviting distinguished guests for 2005. Please see the Call for Papers
on the ICAF homepage, http://go.to/icaf,
for more information.
ABOUT THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CARTOON COLLECTIONS
The Library of Congress houses the Caroline and Erwin Swann Foundation
for Caricature and Cartoon, the Swann Gallery, and one of the world?s
most extensive and diverse collections of comic strips, comic books,
and cartoon drawings. Learn more about the Library?s cartoon-related
collections at their official Web site: http://www.loc.gov/rr/print/swann/cartoon_research.html.
For more information about ICAF, contact Marc
Singer, ICAF Executive Committee.
Panel Title: "The Superhero Revised in Comic Books, Film, and
Television"
Deadline for submissions: April 30, 2005
From the time of their advent in the comic books of the 1930's, superheroes have been a distinctive part of the American experience. Some critics have suggested that the enduring presence of superheroes in comic books, film, and television grows from the desire to retain the classic heroic archetypes. Others have suggested that superheroes are extremely malleable commodities that easily reflect and reinforce culture. With these ideas (and others) in play, this panel will explore the changes made to the superhero in general and particular throughout the twentieth and into the twenty-first century.
Possible topics include (but are not limited to) the following:
Please submit a 300-word proposal to Terrence Wandtke at twandtke@judsoncollege.edu. You may include the proposal within the body of the e-mail or attach as a Word document. You may also mail a hard copy to Terrence Wandtke; Division of Communication Arts; Judson College; 1151, North State Street; Elgin, IL 60123-1498. Your e-mail or hard copy proposal must be received by April 30, 2005. Please include your affiliation and contact information.
Modernist Studies Association 7th Annual Conference
November 3-6, 2005
Chicago, Illinois
Proposed panel: The Illustrated Book
With a legacy in the West dating to the Middle Ages, book illustration is
deeply rooted in tradition. At the same time, artists, beginning with William
Blake, began to rethink and expand the relationship between words and the
images they used to accompany them. Proposals exploring the relationship
between text and illustration, especially those concerned with artists
illustrating the texts of others, are invited for a session at the Modernist
Studies Association annual meeting to be held in Chicago the first weekend of
November, 2005.
Please send a one- to two-page abstract for a 20-minute presentation together
with a brief CV to Michelle Kaiserlian at the following email address by
February 11, 2005. Electronic submissions only.
Michelle Kaiserlian
Indiana University
mkaiserl@indiana.edu
Editors Sidney I. Dobrin and Sean Morey seek proposals for a new collection of original articles to be published by State University of New York Press that address the role of visual rhetoric and picture theory in understanding the construction and contestation of space, place, nature, and environment. This collection will consider how and what images—both the idea of the image and specific images themselves—might suggest about spaces, environments and "nature." The goal of Ecosee: Image, Rhetoric, and Nature is to bring together conversations of image theory, spatial theory, theories of globalization, environmental rhetoric, and visual rhetoric to more fully develop theories of ecosee. Growing from M. Jimmie Killingsworth and Jacqueline S. Palmer's attempt to understand "the relationships among language, thought, and action in environmental politics" as expressed in their landmark book Ecospeak: Rhetoric and Environmental Politics in America, Ecosee moves to take into consideration a crucial facet of environmental rhetoric: ecosee, the visual (re)presentation of space/environment/nature in photographs, paintings, television, movies, video games, computer medias, and other forms of image-based media.
The editors seek proposals for innovative papers that bring together an array of approaches to developing ecosee theories. The editors of this collection seek articles that approach ecosee from a variety of perspectives, including, but not limited to:
The editors will not seek articles that offer simple "readings" of specific images, but instead look for articles that forward picture theory, visual rhetorical theory, and other new media theory as they pertain to "seeing" nature in order to further develop ecosee theories. The editors encourage contributors who wish to include readings of images to couch those readings in the hermeneutic work of a contributor's theoretical address.
Please send a proposal of 500-750 words and a contributor's bio by March 15, 2005 to (preferably) e-mail or snail mail address below. (Early inquiries and submissions are highly encouraged). Authors will be notified of acceptance by April 1, 2005. Final drafts of articles will be due: September 1, 2005.
For more information, inquiries, or submissions, please email the editors. Sdobrin@english.ufl.edu, swmorey@english.ufl.edu
Sidney I. Dobrin and Sean Morey
Department of English
University of Florida
PO Box 117310
Gainesville, Florida, 32611-7311
For the MLA's Options for Teaching series, the Publications Committee has approved development of the volume Teaching the Graphic Novel, edited by Stephen E. Tabachnick. As currently projected, the volume will be aimed primarily at nonspecialists --those who occasionally teach a graphic novel or wish to do so--as well as at those who already teach courses in the graphic novel.
The volume will include sections on 1) theoretical and historical issues, 2) aesthetic issues, 3) social issues, 4) course contexts, and 5) teaching specific graphic novels or graphic novelists. The book will also offer a bibliography and list of resources for further study. Given the interdisciplinary and international nature of the graphic novel, submissions are welcome from faculty in diverse fields (e.g., literatures in English and other languages, film, art, graphic design, philosophy, history and political science, among other fields).
One-page abstracts should be emailed to stbchnck@memphis.edu by 1 May 2005, although the editor encourages contact with him well before the deadline. Abstracts can also be mailed to Stephen Tabachnick, English Department, Patterson Hall Room 467, The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN 38152-3510.
Image Events: From Theory to Action (edited collection)
Eds. Joe Wilferth and Kevin DeLuca
In a world awash in images, in a culture wherein images constitute the most influential form of public discourse, constructing image events (namely staged acts of protest designed for media dissemination) has become a crucial rhetorical strategy for corporate hegemony and citizen resistance. Such events, as has been demonstrated by Greenpeace, by PETA, by the Truth campaign against big tobacco and so many more, aim to heighten public awareness and affect cultural or mainstream ideographs.
The editors of a new collection on image events and visual rhetoric invite colleagues (graduate students included) from both English and communication studies to contribute original work on image events, on visual rhetoric, and on the rhetorical analysis of those events/rhetorics. Specifically, the editors invite submissions for three main areas of the collection: 1) theory, 2) analysis (i.e., individual cases and analyses according to a specific method of rhetorical criticism), and 3) pedagogy/action.
Examples of themes desired under each area include the following:
Theory
Analysis
Pedagogical and Activism Implications
Abstracts (500 words) are due Friday, February 11, 2005. Please include with the abstract a working title and all contact information (name, address, phone, e-mail).
Selected contributors will be asked to provide initial drafts/manuscripts on or by July 1, 2005.
Editors: Joe Wilferth (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) and Kevin
DeLuca
(University of Georgia)
Send abstracts (hardcopy) to:
Dr. Joe Wilferth
Department of English (#2703)
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37403
Queries:
E-mail: Joe-Wilferth@utc.edu
Phone: (423) 425-4621
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