Call for Papers for Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS) Annual Conference, 2013 (Chicago)
Paranormal Media
Annette Hill, in Paranormal Media: Audiences, Spirits and Magic in Popular Culture, observes that in recent years, paranormal beliefs have entered the mainstream. Although the paranormal had a presence in popular culture and various media forms for centuries, the past decade has reflected a proliferation across media, from paranormal romance fiction (in the form of the Twilight series and its many imitators) to a resurgence in the paranormal horror film, witnessed in the success of such films as Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2007) and Insidious (James Wan, 2011). Television has also proved a beneficial medium for paranormal narratives, particularly (but not limited to) dramas (True Blood, American Horror Story, Supernatural, The Walking Dead) and reality television (Ghost Hunters, Paranormal State). As a panel, “Paranormal Media” investigates the unique relationship between the paranormal and media, including its connections to the horror genre and the possibilities it offers in film, television, and new media.
Panel papers may examine questions of genre, production, paratexts, reception, etc. Although we are particularly interested in media dealing with ghosts, we also welcome scholarship on texts featuring demons, aliens, witches, vampires, werewolves, and assorted “things that go bump in the night,” demonstrating the diversity of paranormal media and its study.
* Generic hybridity
* Representations of gender and sexuality
* Representations of social class and race, including whiteness
* Convergences between the horror genre, reality TV, and “found footage”
* Reception/audience studies
* Relationship between the paranormal and issues of medium/apparatus
* Historical approaches (previous manifestations of the paranormal in media)
Abstracts should be approximately 500 words in length, and accompanied by a brief bibliography (five items maximum) and a short biography of the author. Please email your abstract as a .doc file to Drew Beard (abeard3@uoregon.edu) by August 25, 2012. All will be notified as to the status of their proposal by August 28, 2012.
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