CFP Creature Re-Feature: Frankenstein at 2000 (NeMLA 2018 Panel) (abstracts by 9/30/2017)

Creature Re-Feature: Frankenstein at 2000 (Panel)

The 49th NeMLA Annual Convention
April 12-15, 2018 Pittsburgh, PA

Primary Area / Secondary Area

Cultural Studies and Media Studies / Anglophone

Chair(s)

Rikk Mulligan (Carnegie Mellon University)
Submissions to: https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/16974

Abstract

In Frankenstein: A Cultural History (2007), Susan Tyler Hitchcock argues that the central myth of Mary Shelley’s novel is one of “claiming long-forbidden knowledge and facing the consequences” (4). Frankenstein’s creation has become a metaphor for hubris, overreach, and discovery divorced from humanity; it is also an argument for ethical creation. Over the past two hundred years as science and technology have evolved, this metaphor has been applied to atomic weapons and power, cloning, genetic modification, and artificial intelligence among other pursuits. The novel has been adapted for stage, screen, graphic novels, and even video games, using new settings and often reimagining and adding characters, yet leaving others relatively untouched.

This session seeks papers that explore the ways in which the iconic figures of Victor Frankenstein and his creation have been transformed in the early 21st century.
Papers might explore recent film, television or novels including but not limited to:

• Dean Koontz’s Frankenstein quadrilogy (2005-2010)
• Frankenstein (BBC, 2007)
• Peter Ackroyd’s The Casebook of Victor Frankenstein (2008)
• The Frankenstein Theory (2013)
• I, Frankenstein (2014)
• Penny Dreadful (Showtime, 2014-2016)
• Victor Frankenstein (2015)
• The Frankenstein Chronicles (BBC TV, 2015)
• Second Chance (Fox, 2016)
• Doc Frankenstein (comic series, Burlyman Entertainment, 6 issues, 2004-2016)
• Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. (DC Comics, 17 issues, 2011-2013)

Description

2018 is the bicentennial of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. This session will explore how the iconic figures of Victor Frankenstein and his creation have been transformed in the early 21st century. Any source including comics books, television and cable series, films, and novels may be considered so long as they were released in or after 2000.