CFP: Nationalism(s) and Cultural Memory in Texts of Childhood
Deadlines: 15 November 2009 and 1 February 2010
This proposed collection of essays seeks to address the interplay
between nationalism (or nationalisms) and cultural memory in a range
of texts for or about young people, including books, periodicals,
films, television series, games, tourism sites, websites, and
archives. The overall collection will be concerned with the ways in
which cultural memory is shaped, contested, forgotten, recovered, and
(re)circulated, sometimes in opposition to dominant national
narratives, featuring young characters and/or targeting young readers
who are often assumed not to possess any prior cultural memory.
Submissions that examine the circulation of such texts across national
borders are particularly welcomed.
Possible topics include:
? Texts for children and/vs. texts for adults (as well as crossover
texts);
? Transnational co-productions or co-publishing ventures;
? Textual transformations (adaptations, translations, abridgments,
retellings, parodies, fan/slash fictions, authorized or unauthorized
sequels and prequels);
? Depictions of the past and the future (including history/biography,
revisionist histories, science fiction and futurism);
? The circulation of colonial and postcolonial discourses (from empire
to colony, or from former colony back to empire);
? Depictions of war and conflict, particularly contentious historical
and political conflicts;
? The role of food, dress, and festival in the transmission of
cultural memory;
? The cultural production of texts, including branding, genre, and
assumptions about gender, race, class, sexuality, religion, and
nationality;
? Reception of texts, either by critics/scholars or by young people.
The collection of essays will be edited by Benjamin Lefebvre, a
Leverhulme Visiting Fellow at the University of Worcester. Deadline
for 200-word abstracts and bionote: 15 November 2009. Deadline for 20-
to 25-page chapters: 1 February 2010. Please direct abstracts to the
editor by e-mail: (ben /at/ roomofbensown.net). Authors whose work is
selected for inclusion in the volume will be invited to present part
of their work in progress at a one-day symposium to be held at the
University of Worcester in April 2010. Queries are welcomed at any time.
--
Benjamin Lefebvre, Ph.D.
Leverhulme Visiting Fellow
International Centre for Research in Children's Literature, Literacy
and Creativity
University of Worcester
Worcester, Worcestershire, UK
--
http://roomofbensown.net/
