ALA Session Update 2/25

It is with sadness that I must report that our proposed session on "Frankenstein and the American Dream?" (details at https://frankensteinandthefantastic.blogspot.com/2017/02/ala-panel-details.html) has been rejected by the organizing committee of the American Literature Association.

Michael Torregrossa
Area Chair

CFP Romanticism and Popular Culture (5/15/2017; SAMLA)

Of potential interest:

Romanticism and Popular Culture

Event: 11/03/2017 - 11/05/2017
Abstract: 05/15/2017
https://www.cfplist.com/CFP.aspx?CID=10778

Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Organization: Keats-Shelley Association of America and the South Atlantic Modern Language Association


Romanticism and Popular Culture, an affiliated session of the Keats-Shelley Association of America at the South Atlantic Modern Language Association 89th Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, USA (3-5 Nov. 2017)

In keeping with this year’s conference theme (“High Art/Low Art: Borders and Boundaries in Popular Culture”), this panel seeks papers that address topics related to popular culture and British Romantic-era literature, although other Romanticism-related topics certainly will be considered. Sponsored by the Keats-Shelley Association of America, this affiliated session especially welcomes papers related to second-generation Romantic-era British writers and/or their literary circles, namely those addressing the lives and/or works of John Keats, Percy and Mary Shelley, Lord Byron, Leigh Hunt, and William Hazlitt.

See <http://k-saa.org> for more information about the Keats-Shelley Association of America.

Please send a 250-word abstract, bio or CV (no more than ONE page), and any audio-visual requests to Ben P. Robertson, Troy University (bprobertson@troy.edu), by 15 May 2017.



Contact Email: bprobertson@troy.edu
Website: https://samla.memberclicks.net/

ALA Panel Details

I am pleased to report that Frankenstein and the Fantastic has submitted the following panel to the organizers of the American Literature Association. Notification of acceptance is in March.

Frankenstein and the American Dream?

Sponsored by Frankenstein and the Fantastic, an outreach effort of the Fantastic (Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction) Area of the Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association

Organizer and Chair: Michael A. Torregrossa, Independent Scholar

1.     “Bride of Frankenstein as Parody of the Christ Narrative,” Martin F. Norden, University of Massachusetts Amherst

2.     “Frankenstein and Fulfilling the American Dream: Why We Root for the Underdog,” Cheryl A. Hunter, University of Massachusetts Lowell/Southern New Hampshire University

3.     “Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Love: ‘Happily Ever After’ in Adaptations of Frankenstein,” Maggie Damken, Independent Scholar

4.     “ ‘And What Was I?’ The Power of Aesthetic Perception in Shelley’s Frankenstein,” Jobin Davis, University of Central Missouri

Audio-visual equipment required: dvd player, projector, and screen.

Frankenstein and the Fantastic, an outreach effort of the Fantastic (Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction) Area of the Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association, seeks in this panel to highlight some of the various ways that Americans have shaped and/or appropriated the Frankenstein story. We begin with Martin Norden’s examination of The Bride of Frankenstein, the sequel to Universal Studio’s Frankenstein; both films have had an enormous impact of Americans’ conception of Frankenstein and our reaction to its creature. Next, we have two related papers, by Cheryl A. Hunter and Maggie Damken, respectively, each of whom highlight some of the ways that American creators have produced new narratives that further rewrite Shelley’s story to allow the creature access to some of the privileges accorded to all Americans. Finally, Jobin Davis explores ways in which the Frankenstein story has a more direct influence on the lives of Americans through the experiences of transgender individuals.

CFP Frankenstein and the American Dream

Frankenstein and the American Dream?

Frankenstein and the Fantastic, an outreach effort of the Fantastic (Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction) Area of the Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association seeks proposals for a panel in commemoration of the endurance of Frankenstein and the Frankenstein tradition. The session is being submitted for the 2017 meeting of the American Literature Association to be held in Boston, Massachusetts, from 25-28 May 2017.

Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein celebrates the two-hundredth anniversary of its publication in 2018, and, over the almost two centuries of the story’s existence, Frankenstein, its characters, and its themes have inspired a myriad range of creative responses, including retellings, adaptions, linked texts (i.e. prequels, midquels and sequels), recastings, and allusions. American creators seem to have been especially fascinated by Frankenstein and its textual progeny, and American-made productions have offered many thought-provoking transformations of Shelley’s work.

What is most interesting is that some of these American works promote happy (or at least happier) endings to the tale that permit the creator and/or his creation to live beyond the ending prescribed by Shelley’s narrative. This has allowed them, the creature most importantly, to achieve (at least to some extent) the privileges, available to all Americans, of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. In seeking and claiming aspects of the American dream for Shelley’s characters the Frankensteiniana of the United States provides insight in how one nation in particular has adopted and appropriated Shelley’s story and made it its own.

We are especially interested in proposals that explore how American-made texts relate to Shelley’s novel and the larger tradition of Frankenstein-related texts in popular culture. Possible options would include works by American production companies (film and television studios, publishing houses, comic book companies, etc.), American-born creators working either in the United States or abroad, and foreign-born creators working for American companies. Additional options might explore Frankenstein and Frankenstein-related texts in an American context/setting.

Please submit proposals to FrankensteinandtheFantastic@gmail.com no later than 28 January 2017. A complete proposal should include the following: your complete contact information, a clear and useful title of your paper, an abstract of your paper (approximately 250 to 600 words), a brief biographical statement explaining your academic status and authority to speak about your proposed topic, and a note on any audio/visual requirements.

Further details on the Fantastic (Fantasy, Horror, and Science Fiction) Area can be found at https://nepcafantastic.blogspot.com. The Frankenstein and the Fantastic project has its own dedicated site at https://frankensteinandthefantastic.blogspot.com/ that will be expanded in 2017.

Complete details on the American Literature Association and its conference can be found at http://americanliteratureassociation.org/ala-conferences/ala-annual-conference/.