20^th– and 21^st-Century German Forum / MLA Conference 2022

This series of panels explores the representation of trauma in German-language graphic narratives. Recent decades have seen an increase in graphic narratives that deal with various traumatic experiences, including trauma related to warfare, genocide, terrorism, racism, sexual violence, domestic violence, illness, disability, migration, natural disasters and climate-change related suffering. Indeed, some scholars have argued that graphic narratives are particularly well-suited to portraying traumatic experiences through the lens of individual memories. Hillary Chute, for example, has suggested that the “fragmentary and condensed form” of comics panels corresponds to the fragmentary and condensed nature of traumatic memories. Because graphic memoirs both show and tell, they push “on conceptions of the unrepresentable” and capture what might otherwise be considered “unsayable.” Similarly, Gillian Whitlock states that “comics has a distinctive role to play in the work of representing traumatic memory and may be partly adept at finding room to maneuver amid spaces of contradiction and extreme states of violent contestation.” 

We encourage submissions that parse the representation of trauma in fictional and non-fictional graphic narratives. Possible topics include, but are not limited to the following issues:

• How do graphic narratives relate to a visual archive of trauma?
• How do comics address issues of gender and race in representations of trauma?
• How do nonmainstream graphic narratives give voice to individual, highly personal experiences of trauma?
• How do these texts negotiate the aesthetics and ethics of trauma?
• How do varying conceptualizations of temporality impact the representation of trauma? 
• How can the language of comics, exemplified by concepts such as iconic solidarity (Groensteen), subtend notions of social justice (see the 2020 double issue of Seminar on social justice, www.utpjournals.press/toc/seminar/56/3-4)?
• Does graphic narrative’s oft-cited proclivity for self-reflectivity and realism enhance or diminish its capacity to bear witness to trauma?
• How do the formal and aesthetic features of comics (e.g., the gutter, the reader’s habit to form single panels into a coherent whole) impact our understanding of trauma?
• In which ways are graphic memoirs invested in what Leigh Gilmore calls “the ethics of testimony”? Do they indeed form part of an “alternative jurisdiction”?
• How does the democratizing potential of comics, evidenced in an artist’s ability to produce substantial work without much funding (for example, through serial online publication), encourage the telling of stories that would be marginalized in mainstream media?

Please submit 300-word abstracts and a short bio to Elisabeth Krimmer (emkrimmer@ucdavis.edu) by March 15, 2021. If your proposal is accepted, you must be an MLA member by April 7, 2021. You may only have two roles at the convention.

CALL FOR PAPERS
The Social, Political and
Ideological Semiotics of Comics and Cartoons
Special issue of Punctum. International Journal of Semiotics
EDITORS: Stephan Packard and Lukas R.A. Wilde

Deadline for Abstracts: April 30, 2021
Notice of Acceptance of the Abstract: May 15, 2021
Deadline for Submission of Full Papers: September 1, 2021
… Publication Date: Winter 2021-22

What more can semiotics do for comics? As early as the 1960s and through to the first decades of the 21st century, comics studies have attracted a large and perhaps disproportionate amount of attention from analytical semiotic approaches that foreground description and theory building: Their combination of pictures and text offering a challenge to any attempt towards a systematic theory of signs, and their experimental treatment of their semiotic inventory as well as the genres, imageries, and conventions of other media and art forms inviting descriptive scrutiny as well as playful engagement. Scott McCloud’s famous Understanding Comics (1993), both praised and criticized for its essentially semiotic approach, provided the foundation for the rise of sequential comics studies. Even the relatively more practice-based earlier work of Will Eisner (Comics & Sequential Art, 1985), on which McCloud built his own, focuses on a description of formal semiot-ic and semantic relationships. Thierry Groensteen’s Système de la bande dessinée (1999), on the other hand, elaborated a semiological approach to the comics images’ ’iconic solidarity.’ For semantics rather than syntax, Umberto Eco’s treat-ment of Superman (1962) had already extended a semiological perspective to examining plot and character.

The influence of these authors might wrongly cloud the plethora of early international contributions to a semiotic study of comics, including Ullrich Krafft’s Comics lesen (1978), Ursula Oomen’s Wort – Bild – Nachricht (1975), Daniele Barbieri’s Il linguaggio del fumetto (1990), and Anne Magnussen’s Peircean approach in Comics & Culture (2000, with Hans-Christian Christiansen), among many others. Natsume Fusanosuke’s and Takekuma Kentarō’s collection Manga no yomikata (漫画の読み方 1995, roughly: How to Read Manga) inspired a similar Japa-nese wave of formal-aesthetic and semiotic reflections of writing, images, and abstract line-art in the manga tradition, although this has hardly been noticed internationally due to a lack of translations. More recently, the multimodality approach of Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) has given rise to new methods, such as Janina Wildfeuer’s empirical discourse analysis of comics (2018ff.), Paul Fisher Davis’ multimodal systemic-functional linguistics (2019), or large-scale formal corpus analytics (cf. Alexander Dunst, Quantitative Analysis of Comics, 2018). Simultaneously, the combination of semiotics and cognitive linguistics has opened new venues, such as Neil Cohn’s description of distinct visual languages of comics (Cohn 2013).

And yet, many of these approaches have been accused of treating their subjects with arbitrary abstraction and an overload of theory, neglecting political and material conditions of comics production, contents, distribution, and fandom, and reproducing distinctions of class, race, and gender by elevating the body depictions of a popular genre to the metaphysical dignity of seemingly ahistorical semiotic principles (cf. Horrocks 2001; Frahm 2006). In the face of this criticism, we contend that a semiotic approach to comics studies always has and can continue to engender a thorough and critical engagement with comic books’ social, political, and ideological dimensions.

The naturalization of ’improper,’ comical, and deformed shapes in comics can be exposed at the very heart of its ideological tendencies and implicit traditions. Carefully examining the cartoonish depiction of bodies and stereotypes against the political history of caricature offers insight into the reproduction processes that structure these comical signs. The formation and transformation of plot and figural schemata in serial storytelling invites closer looks at the currents shaping and tearing at the conventions of both the popular genres and experimental or avant-garde forms of comics. The drawing pen’s freedom inevitably leads to a pictorial database in which all aspects of the depicted world are specifically appropriated and invite interpretation. The reinvention of panels, pages, habits, and means of inferences in webcomics demand specific formal scrutiny alongside the social implications of their extended and postdigital usages. If we are to see transnational mainstream comics enter a ‘Blue Age,’ as Adrienne Resha has recently argued (2020), it is not least in the reordering of code, address, and com-municative situation that the expansion of topics and reader bases has to take place.

More fundamentally, what has been neglected in much of existing comics scholar-ship is the social implications of semiotics that should be understood as the exami-nation of an inherently social process of “unlimited community” (Peirce), as the “science of the life of signs in society” (Saussure). A comprehensive understanding of sign usage rhetorics requires an adequate account of its ideological dimension (Barthes).
Against this background, we invite abstracts that focus on the socio-political semiotics of comic books, manga, graphic storytelling, and political cartooning. More analytically, abstracts can be about topics such as, but not limited to:

• various forms of cartoonish representation in historical context;
• new approaches to the pictorial ideology of comics conventions and traditions;
• studies into the semiotic techniques of fandom appropriation and remixes;
• engagements with the sequential and serial forms of comic books and their social and economic conditions;
• narratological criticisms and revisions of ’reality principles’ and ’natural’ forms of meaning-making;
• inter- and transcultural adaptations, negotiations, and appropriations as semiotic transcriptions;
• research into specific comic genres and their conventionalized forms of expressions (e.g., superheroes, shōnen manga, funny strips, etc.) between conservatism and subversion, and many more.

Prospective authors are asked to submit an abstract of approximately 500 words by mail to the guest editors, Prof. Dr. Stephan Packard (packard@uni-koeln.de) and Dr. Lukas R.A. Wilde (lukas.wilde@uni-tuebingen.de), including their affiliation and contact information. Acceptance of the abstract does not guarantee publication, given that all research articles will be subjected to the journal’s double peer-review process.

PublicationSpecial blog series – US Studies Online
Edited by Harriet Earle (Birkbeck College, University of London)

Since the 1970s, the comics form has skyrocketed in popularity and the types of comics we are reading – and how we are engaging with them – has changed dramatically. This new and developing type of comic is often referred to as a ‘graphic novel’, a term that is not universally accepted but allows readers to understand the ways in which the form is being used to tell multifaceted stories. However, it is a problematic term because it is so often applied to comics that are not fictional (as most novels are) and the word ‘graphic’ comes with a host of connotations related to sex, violence, swearing and ‘mature themes’. Additionally, despite a growing academic interest and a huge number of critically acclaimed comics being published each year, the reputation of the form has not developed accordingly; for some, comics is still a cheap, ‘pop’ form that does not engage with authentic social history and intricate narratives and themes. In truth, the comics form is ideally suited to the retelling of complex, nuanced stories and to the effective and affective representations of sex and violence. Rather than disposable, needlessly ‘graphic’ stories of no value, a vast number of comics narratives are finely constructed, rather than straight-up debased, providing a platform for the telling of ‘difficult tales’, of which there is no shortage in America!

This blog series aims to provide a side-long look at comics and the ways in which the form engages with both traditionally ‘graphic’ narrative themes and arcs, and also its own ignominious past. Comics studies is a multi- and inter-disciplinary field that incorporates aspects of comics history, publications & media history, textual & visual analysis, questions of reception & reader response, sociological theory, psychoanalysis, and literary criticism & theory.

We invite contributions from researchers and academics in any field within the remit of comics studies. Suggested topics for posts may include:

• Physical violence on the comics page
• Violence and social comment
• Crime comics
• Sexual violence and rape
• Swearing, ‘obscenity’ and the ‘grawlix’
• The history and development of comics as a form for ‘difficult stories’ (especially the rise of autographics and historical conflict narratives)
• Representing sex and intimacy
• Porn comics and Tijuana Bibles
• Controversial texts and debates around reception (e.g. Werthem’s Seduction of the Innocents or the Murderdome debacle)

Please refer to the USSO submission guidelines for further information on style: http://www.baas.ac.uk/usso/blog-3/submission-guidelines/

c. 250 word abstracts or expressions of interest should be sent to drharrietearle@gmail.com

A full schedule of publication and firm submissions deadline will follow in due course.

Call for Papers: ‘Beyond the Graphic’ – Considering Violence, Sexuality and Obscenity in Comics

Call for Papers
This is an invitation for scholars to submit an essay proposal to be included in “The Philosophies of Stan Lee” for the University Press of Mississippi as part of their internationally respected publications in the field.This work is to celebrate the significant contributions made by Stan Lee as one of the most influential individuals in 20th century popular culture. Thus, I am seeking academics who possess a strong familiarity with his work and most importantly, can provide well-reasoned argumentation that is supportive of the book’s aim. Since this project is an appreciation of the man and his creativity it is the aim for it to be available for what would have been Lee’s 100th birthday in 2022.

Audience: Undergraduate university students in 1st/2nd year philosophy and / or comics studies.Writing style: accessible, serious and philosophically rigorous.

The collection seeks to offer philosophical analyses of a broad range of Lee’s endeavours based upon such things as:
•            Specific superhero characters
•            Non-superhero characters
•            Specific storylines and arcs
•            Historical eras in Comics (e.g., Gold, Silver, Bronze)
•            Various genres (e.g., Western, Horror, Humour)
•            Stan’s Soapbox
•            POW! Projects
•            Outside projects & collaborations (including educational talks)
•            Non-comics writing (e.g., captions magazines, newspaper strips, script treatments, etc.)
•            Other media forms (e.g., film and television productions)
•            as a professional in the comics industry (e.g., as editor, publisher, co-creator etc.)
•            as an industry spokesperson

Throughout the book I will be including brief reflections by well known comic book artists and writers who gained a “Lesson from Lee”. Already 25 individuals are signed up to participate.

Please send a note of interest and intent to:  jmclaughlin@tru.ca<mailto:jmclaughlin@tru.ca> 

A more formal abstract and brief CV will be required early in the new year. Please also forward this CFP to other interested parties and professional discussion lists. I would be happy to respond to any rough ideas you’d like to toss my way. I look forward to hearing from you soon!

/Best Wishes, Jeff

////Dr. Jeff McLaughlin Ph.D.//Full Professor (Philosophy) and Chair//Department of Philosophy, History, and Politics//Thompson Rivers University//805 University Drive//Kamloops BC Canada//V2C 0C8/

Visible Evidence XXVII will take place in a hybrid format. Around half of the conference presentation slots will be allocated to online presentations for those who cannot make it to Frankfurt in person. In addition, the conference keynote lectures will be live streamed to those attending virtually. The organizing committee is currently examining additional means to make virtual participants and attendants further engaged with the in-person panels and interactions. We ask applicants to state in advance whether they’ll participate virtually or in person. We are aware that applicants’ conditions might change. We will therefore also ask you to confirm your form of participation (in person or virtually) upon receiving notification of acceptance and in mid-October, two months before the conference.

With the new conference layout the VE XXVII steering committee is particularly interested in formats that draw on previous dialogue, such as pre-constituted panels, workshops and conversations (see below) that bring together scholars and practitioners. Along with the usual open call for paper presentations we offer adjusted formats for the hybrid model and ask applicants to read carefully through the format descriptions.

VE XXVII, 2021: Documentary and Democracy in Crisis

What we call ‘documentary’ emerged in the 1920s and 1930s in response to a perceived crisis of liberal democracy, as a mode of factual representation which empowers citizens to participate in the political process. As the last months have shown, the willingness or unwillingness of citizens to comply with policy makers have crucial effects. How does documentary respond to what has been widely diagnosed as the current crisis of democracy? What could be an adequate reaction in forms, themes and modes of production, to the return to nationalism and other forms of political tribalism in the face of global migration? In what ways does documentary shape our perceptions of the consequences of globalization, from climate change, health crisis, to the transformation of the economy? And how can documentary in theory and practice contribute to defend the spaces and modes of deliberation necessary for the life of democracy?

Visible Evidence, the international conference on documentary film and media, now in its 27th installment, will convene in Frankfurt, Germany, on December 15-18, 2021. Hosted by the Institute for Theatre, Film and Media Studies (TFM) at Goethe University, Frankfurt, Visible Evidence XXVII will address these and other current issues related to the history, theory, practice and pedagogy of documentary and non-fiction cinema, television, video, audio recording, digital media, photography, VR, games and performance in a wide range of panels, workshops, plenary sessions, screenings and special events. We welcome panel, workshop, conversation, screening and paper proposals that address documentary and non-fiction media from a diverse range of disciplines that can open the field to new lines of investigation through innovative and original perspectives.

Designed as a public event in collaboration with the city’s leading cultural institutions, the conference makes a conscious nod towards documentary history as an instrument of public opinion. The notion of crisis, a thread weaved through the history of documentary, and in light of current affairs seems ever more pertinent, calls for new political, formal and social possibilities that consolidate and expand documentary’s role as a space for representation and democratic deliberation. These new possibilities should be explored in a dialogue between theory and practice. We invite scholars, filmmakers, archivists and activists to propose panels and presentations that address any aspect of documentary and non-fiction media. Special threads and themes may include (but are in no way limited to):

Documentary and Conflict: How should we perceive conflict not just as a historically-specific geopolitical crisis, but as an interaction of aesthetic forces that reorders documentary temporalities, geographies and speech-acts? What role is taken by documentary in an age of rising fascism, post- and neo-colonialism, transnational military interventions and global humanitarianism?

Documentary Infrastructures: How does documentary depict and expose industrial infrastructures? In what ways does documentary itself comprise, or challenge, larger social and material infrastructures, including funding structures, distribution platforms and new visual technologies?

Documentary Publics: The advent of new media platforms and technologies bares, on the one hand, potential for a radical reorganization of social bodies. On the other hand, creates fraught contexts through which the social is organized by corporate logic and pseudo-democratic regimes. Framed within these social and medial settings, what forms of deliberation documentary brings to contemporary public and counter-public spheres?

Race, Gender and Sexuality: How can documentary serve as a means of transgression, a tool for community building, or a platform for organization/organizing in a political climate marked by exclusionary tribalisms? How can documentary resurrect non-hegemonic pasts and presents and open up spaces outside of a white, heteronormative and patriarchal matrix?

Documentary and the Non-Human: In the epoch of the Anthropocene and in the wake of environmental crisis, how can documentary exceed its “discourses of sobriety” that centers the human? How can it give form to the material world, traversing the representational hierarchies between the human and non-human? How do documentaries of nonhuman subjects interact with, reinforce or diverge from human political regimes?

Documentary and Operational Media: Considering the proliferation of tools for data analysis, image-based computational techniques and forensic media, how can we re-think documentary’s evidentiary claims at its intersections with fields such as science, medicine, design and law?

Documentary Pedagogy: How can we think of documentary pedagogy through a vernacular prism? How have documentary studies responded to the shifting labor conditions of teaching at individual, departmental, and disciplinary levels?  How have they been reshaped by videographic practices of criticism and scholarship? How do the evolving methodologies of teaching and writing about documentary speak to the labor it asks of us?

Documentary and the Politics of Information: The current crisis evolving from the Coronavirus pandemic brought to the surface many questions related to information, its representation, circulation and utilities as a means of governance, surveillance or trust. These questions go back to core assumptions of documentary. How does (and whether) the gesture of informing the public contribute to the forming of responsible and responsive citizenry? How do forms of visualization cater to different relations to authority, or different modes of address?

Guidelines for Submission:

Homepage: Visible Evidence XXVII:
https://www.visibleevidence.org/conference/visible-evidence-xxvii/

Panel proposal:
Panels will consist of three presentations of no more than 15 minutes  for each presentation (online presenters might consider even shorter presentations) with ten-minutes response by the panelists’ chosen respondent. Panel proposals require a title; 300-word description of the panel itself; five keywords that identify the panel’s focus; 250-word abstract for each paper, or for filmmakers 200 words abstract and 20 minutes materials (via link); 100-word biography for each participant and 5 bibliographic entries for the entire panel.
Submit panel proposals here.

Workshop proposal:
The emphasis of the workshop is on an open and unstructured exchange of ideas and techniques between all workshop participants. Workshops will consist of five or six opening statements that sum up to 40 minutes in total (5-7 minutes for each statement), with the remaining time dedicated to discussion. Workshop proposals require a title; 300-word description of the workshop; five keywords that identify the workshop’s focus; 50-word description of each contribution; filmmakers are welcome to add 20 minutes materials (via link); 100-word biography for each participant and 5 bibliographic entries for the entire workshop.
Submit workshop proposals here.

Conversation proposal:
A new format introduced for VEXXVII that consists of a 45-minute conversation between three participants that relies on cross-disciplinary exchange between artists and scholars around shared investigations of concepts, sites, sensibilities and histories. The conversation will be based on work (screeners or papers) that were circulated in advance. Presenters will be asked to send a paper of 1,500 words MAX, or for artists either excerpts or a complete work, a couple of weeks before the conference. The conversation itself will be based on the pre-circulated essays and visual materials. Conversation proposals require a title, 200-word description of the general theme; five keywords that identify the conversation focus; 200-word abstract for each paper or film; and for filmmakers 20 minutes materials (via link); 100-word biography for each participant.
Submit conversation proposals here.

Presentation proposal (open call):
Individual presentation proposals can be submitted through the open call. Individual presentations will be allotted 15 minutes for each presenter. Accepted presentations will be programmed into panels with other individual presentation submissions. Individual presentation proposals require a title; five keywords that identify the presentation’s focus, 300-word abstract for papers and 200 words abstract and 20 minutes worth of screening materials (via link) for practitioners; 100-word biography and five bibliographic entries.
Submit individual paper proposals here.

A note to filmmakers and practitioners:
To stress the interconnectedness of theory and praxis, filmmakers and practitioners’ talks will be integrated into all formats side by side with paper presentations. Filmmakers are welcome to send their materials according to the above instructions for each one of the formats where they can present excerpts of their work and contextualize it. In addition VE XXVII will open a Vimeo channel where selected works will be screened. Practitioners presenters could also add a link to their work to the online program.

Conversations will be allotted forty-five minutes, panels and workshops will be allotted one hour and forty-five minutes.

Deadline:
All proposals are due by March 20, 2021.

Multiple submissions will not be accepted, except for panel respondents. Panels, workshops and conversations will be either held completely in person or completely virtually. If your panel/workshop/conversation takes place virtually you are still welcome to attend in person.

Applicants will be notified of acceptance by June 15th, 2021.
For questions please email visibleevidence2020@gmail.com.

Looking forward to seeing you, in person or virtually,

Visible Evidence XXVII organizers,

Laliv Melamed and Vinzenz Hediger.

Homepage: Visible Evidence XXVII:
https://www.visibleevidence.org/conference/visible-evidence-xxvii/

Contemporary comics in the Nordic countries have undergone an explosion in feminist comics and graphic novels since the 2000s. In Sweden, feminist comics have become commercial successes, winning prestigious prizes and appearing in exhibitions, Instagram and other social media Recently, a new generation of artists has entered the scene with a renewed focus on queer and intersectional issues. This special issue seeks to call attention to feminist comic art throughout the Nordic region (Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Iceland), both by established creators and from emerging voices. The history of feminist comics can be traced back to the social movements of the 1970s, but the energy and creativity of contemporary feminist comics is new, reflecting both international trends and conditions specific to the region and to each national context.

This issue of European Comic Art invites articles on the diversity of feminist comics in the Nordic region in a variety of genres, from feminist satire and autobiography to fantasy and romance. Feminist comics have received a degree of attention from Nordic researchers, but few articles have been published in English. We welcome research on specific comics, creators, genres, or historical genealogies, as well as comparative or interdisciplinary approaches.

Submissions of research articles should be between 6000 and 7000 words.

Please send a short abstract (200 words) of your article to co-editors Mike Classon Frangos , (Senior Lecturer, Linnaeus University, mike.classon.frangos@lnu.se) and Anna Nordenstam (Professor, University of Gothenburg, anna.nordenstam@lir.gu.se), no later than 1 March 2021. We will respond with decisions shortly afterward, and the deadline for the completed article will be 1 September. Eventual publication will depend on feedback after double blind peer reviews of the completed article.

European Comic Art is the first English-language scholarly publication devoted to the study of European-language graphic novels, comic strips, comic books and caricature. For more information, see http://journals.berghahnbooks.com/eca

This volume seeks to analyze the emergence of new graphic maternal narratives that challenge the invisibility of mothers in the field in comics and graphic novels. Autographics, i.e. autobiographical accounts, have privileged the positions of sons and daughters, and since the mid-seventies women-authored underground comic magazines have featured transgressive portrayals of mothers. Still, it is only in recent years that conception, gestation, birth and mothering have acquired greater visibility in the ninth art, not only in North America but also in the rest of the world, in particular in countries such as France, Spain, Italy, Chile, and Argentina. This collection of essays aims to provide an in-depth analysis of the plurality of maternal experiences as they emerge in graphic narratives around the world in print and online media, paying particular attention to the verbal-visual styles employed to express the ambivalence, the desires, and the misadventures that accompany those who experience the various stages of reproduction, including in-vitro fertilization, gestation, post-partum depression, loss, birthing, lactation, mothering, etc.

Articles may examine (but are not limited to) the following topics:

• Comics and graphic novels about gestation, infertility, migration, non-traditional mothering, lesbian mothering, trans-gender mothering, maternal desire, mothering and loss, miscarriage, post-partum depression, mothering and disability, maternal ambivalence, adoption, work-life balance, mothering and disability, mothering and aging, among others.

Submission Guidelines:

Send a 250-word abstract and bibliography as well as a 100-word bio to: Marina Bettaglio, bettagli@uvic.ca

Deadline for submission: April 15th, 2021

http://comics-scholars.com/wp/?p=887

The 2021 Joint Conference of the International Graphic Novel & Comics and the International Bande Dessinée Society

21-25 June 2021
Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge

Overview

Comics enthusiasts have long considered comics a uniquely participatory medium. As readers breathe life into static images, convert page space into narrative time, and transform splatters of ink into emotion, they engage with comics in languages that audiences and artists have developed in tandem, negotiating over generations.

Comics 21 | Themes

The theme of this conference explores the idea of audiences in all its meanings. We consider, for example, comics audiences as physical people, individuals, and groups who engage with comics in different situations. Thus, the relationship of readers accessing comics in different languages allows inquiry into questions of translation and adaptation. Readers inhabiting different periods or surviving traumatic public and private moments allow historical and biographical readings. Attention to how audiences identify themselves—according to different or multiple racial, sexual, religious, ethnic, gender, or national identities, physical ability, or migration status—offers to validate marginalised perspectives and fracture traditional understandings. Thinking about comics as texts for or forbidden to children, ideal or inappropriate for adults connects to fields across the curriculum.

The theme also provides space for more abstract senses of comics audiences.

• As audiences have transformed, how have comics adapted to meet them?
• How must readings of touchstone texts shift—and how do those readings resolutely resist change?
• As the definitions of producer and consumer of comics have stiffened and relaxed, how has piracy changed the way that comics are read, perceived, discussed, revised, collected, and distributed?
• How have fans pushed or subverted the industry, and how has the industry marshalled its fan base?
• How have readership and audiences been affected by the context of comics within transmedia universes?

These questions conceive of audiences as both larger and more nuanced, as communities divide and duplicate, working with and against comics publishing.

Call for papers

We invite papers on all aspects of comics and audiences, including:

• Readership of comics in different media, including digital and online
• Libraries and audience access to comics
• Designing comics-specific theories of reader response and transmediation
• Social justice (for example, anti-racism, climate activism, anti-sexism, and disability rights) in, with, and through comics
• Reading and creating comics in the classroom
• Comics and the formation of identity and community
• Cognitive inquiries into how audiences understand comics
• Experiences of comics according to identity and/or embodiment
• Intersection of academic audiences, popular audiences, and the canon
• Comics as vehicles for informing, as in graphic medicine and teaching
• Fan cultures
• Revisionary definitions of audiences, readers, and community

We will also have room within our programme, as always, for papers that do not fit this specific theme.

Deadline for 200-word proposals to comics21@educ.cam.ac.uk : 31 December 2020

Further information

Should the conference not be able to take place due to a resurgence of Covid-19, the conference will likely be postponed rather than delivered online. In such an event, every attempt will be made to give at least two months’ advance notice.

Questions? Reach out to us at comics21@educ.cam.ac.uk .

https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/events/conferences/comics21/

https://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/events/conferences/comics21/