[ecrea] CFP: Howard Hawks: New Perspectives

>Howard Hawks: New Perspectives
>Call for Papers (Edited Collection)
>Deadline for proposals: 1 December, 2010
>
>Although Hawks is often acknowledged as the 
>director of some of Hollywoods most critically 
>acclaimed and enduringly popular films, he also 
>seems something of a marginalised figure. He may 
>be listed as one of the important auteurs in 
>American cinema, but he hasnt received the same 
>kind of scrutiny as figures such as Welles, 
>Hitchcock, Ford, or Wilder. While each of these 
>figures has attracted a substantial number of 
>critical and biographical studies, the first 
>major biography of Hawks (by Todd McCarthy) didnt appear until 1997.
>        One possible explanation for this is 
> that Hawkss films dont seem to have a 
> distinctively identifiable style and appear to 
> lack the requisite directorial signature of 
> the auteur. Or, as Manny Farber put it, his 
> films are as different as theyre similar. 
> Another explanation is that Hawkss films dont 
> appear to present the same kind of difficulty 
> or complexity found in the work of other 
> auteurs: he is often described as a 
> storyteller whose films have been seen as 
> straightforward and simply-told stories. (As 
> early as 1928, a French review of Hawkss A 
> Girl in Every Port was already speaking of his 
> simplifying style.) It is also the case that 
> accounts of the films often fall back on 
> received ideas or taken-for-granted categories 
> such as the Hawksian woman or the male group. 
> In other words Hawks seems to be a known entity 
> whose work causes few problems of 
> interpretation. This is further compounded by 
> the lack of any clear relationship of narrative 
> theme to visual style, with some of his most 
> distinctive features being concerned more with 
> performance, dialogue, and verbal delivery. 
> Stylistically, it is instructive to note 
> Hawkss fascination with jazz and his own use 
> of improvisational techniques in both rehearsal 
> and shooting, techniques that might suggest a 
> very different notion of his filmmaking method 
> and style. Given that one of Hawkss recurrent 
> themes is precisely the refusal of simple 
> categorisations, there is a need to return to 
> his work and question the ways in which his 
> themes and styles have been pigeonholed.
>        For this collection of essays we are 
> therefore looking for work contributing to new 
> and original perspectives on Hawks. It is 
> anticipated that the collection would be 
> grouped around the following suggested areas, 
> although other approaches that have not been 
> predicted here would also be very welcome.
>
>"       Hawkss silent films
>"       Hawks and visual/aural style
>"       Hawks and music
>"       Hawkss failures and marginal works (Robin Wood)
>"       Hawkss generic promiscuity
>"       Interrogating Hawksian
>"       Hawkss contractural career
>"       Hawks and the studios
>"       Reassessing the Hawksian woman
>"       Hawks as collaborative auteur
>"       Hawkss literary collaborations
>"       Hawks as improviser
>"       Hawks and adaptation
>
>Schedule
>1 December, 2010: Deadline for proposals (max 250 words + working title)
>1 February, 2011: Contributors to be advised of decision
>1 March, 2011: Book proposal to be sent to publishers
>1 September, 2012: Completed articles (6000-8000 words) due for submission
>1 February, 2013: Authors to be advised of any requested editorial revisions
>1 July, 2013: Revised articles due for return
>1 September, 2013: Manuscript to be sent to publisher
>
>Please send an abstract (maximum 250 words) 
>together with a working title to the following by 1 December, 2010:
>Dr Ian Brookes
>Department of Culture, Film and Media
>School of Modern Languages and Cultures
>University of Nottingham
>University Park
>Nottingham NG7 2RD
>UK
>
>Email:  (ian.brookes /at/ nottingham.ac.uk)
>
>Phone: +44 (0) 115 951 4850
>Fax:     +44 (0) 115 951 5812
>
>
>
>
>
>Professor Mark Jancovich
>Head of School
>Film and Television Studies
>University of East Anglia
>Norwich NR4 7TJ
>Tel: 01603 592787
>

----------------
ECREA-Mailing list
----------------
This mailing list is a free service from ECREA.
---
To unsubscribe, please visit http://www.ecrea.eu/mailinglist
---
ECREA - European Communication Research and Education Association
Postal address:
ECREA
Université Libre de Bruxelles
c/o Dept. of Information and Communication Sciences
CP123, avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, b-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
Email: (info /at/ ecrea.eu)
URL: http://www.ecrea.eu
----------------