‘International Women’s Day: Why women can thrive in sci-fi’

Posted on 8th March 2016 by firekrank

Today is International Women’s Day  and the BBC have published an article on ‘Why women can thrive in sci-fi’. It considers why sci-fi offers a space to explore alternative relationships with gender especially in regards to feminism. An excellent way to celebrate IWD.

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‘Dead Body Politics, Materialities and Mobilities’ Research Seminars

Posted on 8th March 2016 by firekrank

Seminar 4 of ‘On encountering corpses’ will be taking place on Friday 18th March, 1.00pm-4.30pm at 70 Oxford Street, Manchester. This session is called ‘Dead Body Politics, Materialities and Mobilities’. It is free to attend and more information about registration and the rest of the series can be found here. The entire seminar series looks incredibly thought-provoking.

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CFP: Romancing the Zombie

Posted on 6th March 2016 by firekrank

The following CFP for articles on romance and the zombie has been released:

‘Romancing the Zombie: Falling in Love with the Undead in the 21st Century

Editors
Ashley Szanter, Weber State University
Jessica K. Richards, Weber State University

Project Overview
Editors Szanter and Richards seek original essays for an edited collection on romance in the zombie genre. This collection is under contract with McFarland Publishers. The 21st century has seen a greater willingness to portray the undead as possible candidates for sexual and romantic partnership as well as engaging with overarching themes of romance and relationships in apocalyptic settings. Romance is a generally neglected corner of zombie scholarship largely because of its implied necrophilia. However, it is flourishing in films, literature, and television shows that explore romantic relationships with corpses in various states of decay. This collection will explore this generation’s relatively new tendency to sexualize zombies as attractive and alluring.

Chapters in the proposed collection can focus on one or more of the following categories:

-Recent zombie adaptations iZombie (2015-), Warm Bodies (2013), Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (2016).
-Examinations of the place/function of romance in the zombie genre. How do humans fall in love, create “family,” and procreate in the zombie apocalypse space. What role does romance play when romantic partners turn into zombies? Consider Shaun of the Dead (2004), Fido (2006), Zombieland (2009), The Walking Dead (2010-), Z Nation (2014-), The Returned (2015), and Fear the Walking Dead (2015-).
-Modern monster theory as an important element of pop cultural study and relevance in an era of growing zombie imagery and narrative.
-Address contemporary romantic zombie fictions through a particular scholarly lens.
-Explore the zombie romance phenomenon in written zombie fiction, particularly in the romance genre. Texts for consideration might be the Warm Bodies series by Isaac Marion, the Generation Dead series by David Waters, I Kissed a Zombie and I Liked It by Daniel Selzer, Gone with the Respiration series by Lia Habel, The Loving Dead by Amelia Beamer, or The Last Bastion of the Living series by Rhiannon Frater.
-The romantic zombie as the result of genre exhaustion for both the traditional zombie genre as well as the paranormal romance genre. Have we taken zombies and paranormal romance as far as they can go without expanding the new ZomRomCom?
-Address the romantic zombie in terms of generational disparity. Why does the romantic zombie tend to be a creation of newer generations (Millennials and their successors) rather the Romero-esque zombies of Generation X and the Baby Boomers?
-Address romantic zombies and intersectionality. Of particular interest to the editors are non-binary gender and sexuality, feminism, and non-traditional/deconstructed families or relationships.

Abstract Due Dates

Preference will be given to abstracts received before May 15, 2016. Abstracts should be no longer than 350 words and be accompanied by a current CV.

Final manuscripts of 6,000-8,000 words should be submitted in MLA style by September 15, 2016.

Contact us and send abstracts to Ashley and Jessica at romancingthezombie@gmail.com and visit our website:http://ashleyszanter.wix.com/romancingthezombie‘.

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More Angela Carter from ‘The Gothic Imagination’ blog

Posted on 6th March 2016 by firekrank

Following on from the first blog post on Angela Carter and scopophilia on The Gothic Imagination blog, here is the next post, ‘The Eye of Profane Pleasures: Fairy Tales, Pornography and the Male Gaze in Angela Carter’s “The Bloody Chamber” and “The Erl-King” (Part 2)’.

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The Bram Stoker International Film Festival

Posted on 6th March 2016 by firekrank

Tickets are now one sale for ‘The Bram Stoker International Film Festival’ (27th-30th October 2016). Certainly an event to get your fangs into!

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‘The Flowers of Evil: Satanic Feminists of Bohemian Paris’

Posted on 6th March 2016 by firekrank

This is the first article of a series entitled ‘The Flowers of Evil: Satanic Feminists in Bohemian Paris’ (my what an appetite-whetting title) from Dirge Magazine. I’m sure the articles will include something for everyone!

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‘The Aural Aesthetics of Ghosts in BBC Ghost Stories’

Posted on 6th March 2016 by firekrank

This is a wonderful series of articles on ‘The Aural Aesthetics of Ghosts in BBC Ghost Stories’ which should be of interest to anyone who enjoyed radio adaptations and the power of sound in creating Gothic landscapes.

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CFP: Welcome to the Night Vale

Posted on 6th March 2016 by firekrank

I am very fond of the podcast, ‘Welcome to the Night Vale’, in fact it’s one of the podcasts I enjoyed listening to in order to relax following a hard day researching  – not sure what that says to me. So the following CFP is very exciting:

‘CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Proposals related to the podcast Welcome to Night Vale are solicited for chapter contributions to an edited scholarly collection to be published by Palgrave.

The editor seeks to include a range of approaches focusing on both form and content. Topics may include but are not limited to:

• internal themes and allusions
• genre and influences
• performance, music, and effects
• politics and historical contextualization
• podcast production, distribution, and consumption
• reception and fandom
• paratexts, marketing, and merchandise

250-word proposals and abbreviated CV indicating academic position and publications due by June 15th, 2016.

5000-word chapters due by February 15th, 2017.

Inquires and proposals to Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock at Jeffrey.Weinstock@cmich.edu’.

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Stan Lee, Spiderman and Troubled Teen Protagonists

Posted on 2nd March 2016 by firekrank

Today I happened to catch this excerpt from an interview with Stan Lee on BBC 5 live in which he was speaking about one of his most famous creations, Spider-Man. He was discussing the fact that when he first suggested Spider-Man to his editor, his editor was less than enthused. Whilst this may be old news for people who are more knowledgeable than me about comics, what struck me were the reasons given for rejecting the character.

Firstly Lee’s editor suggested that spiders were a bad choice because many people hate spiders. (Though not me – I am generally indifferent to spiders – and sometimes they can be downright adorable). This is perhaps not that surprising, unlike Batman, Spider-Man is no contender for the title of Gothic (anti)hero. Thus naming him after a creature that evokes horror, terror, fear, and revulsion (all delightfully Gothic emotions) might seem like a brave move. However, what intrigued me more were the concerns over the age and temperament of Peter Parker/ Spider-Man.

Lee states in the interview that he consciously chose to make Parker both a teenager and someone with a complicated back story. He wanted a superhero who had to balance their personal life with their public persona. Nowadays complex teen characters with superhuman powers are de rigueur. Indeed one of the key tropes of paranormal romance, especially novels aimed at young adults and teenagers, is the problems of combining your day-to-day life with your supernatural exploits. These often reflect teenage concerns such as feeling alienated from your peers or your family or struggling with your transforming body and emotions. (Think Teen Wolf – both the film from 1985 and the current television series – and Buffy asking Joyce, “What do you think has been going on for the past two years? The fights, the weird occurrences… how many times have you washed blood out of my clothing, and you still haven’t figured it out?” (‘Becoming’, Pt. 2, S2: Ep22)).

Spider-Man made his debut in 1962 which pre-dates the examples above but certainly comes after the ‘invention’ of the teenager in Fifties’ USA. Clearly however the idea of a teenager have superhuman/ supernatural/ preternatural powers was revolutionary at the time. Moreover, the idea that the effect of these abilities or your new identity would bleed into your normal life was particularly troublesome. There needed to be some separation between the supernatural and the natural. Whilst this is only a very brief look at the idea of the paranormal teen in its early inception, it is fun to think that there was a time when it was an alien concept.

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Arthur Rackham’s Illustrations for the Brothers Grimm

Posted on 2nd March 2016 by firekrank

This beautiful article, ‘Arthur Rackham’s Rare and Revolutionary 1917 Illustrations for the Brothers Grimm Fairy Tales’ on BrainPickings.org, celebrates the beauty of Rackham’s work especially following the horrors of the World War 1. The images are absolutely magical and a celebration of the power of fairy tales.

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