[ecrea] Joint Conference of Graphic Novels, Bande Dessinées and Comics 2011

>The Graphic Novels and Comics Conference
>Manchester Metropolitan University: 5th and 6th July 2011
>Audiences and Readership / In(ter)dependence: readers-turned-creators
>
>Audiences and Readership
>At the Graphic Novels and Comics Conference 
>2010, a major issue identified by the plenary 
>panel as crucial for future directions regarding 
>comics research was that of audiences and 
>readership.  Martin Barker, who pioneered and 
>championed comics research when it was 
>unfashionable reinforced this issue when 
>reviewing the conference in the Journal of 
>Graphic Novels and Comics noting, â¬Üit is 
>striking to me&that no-one is ccurrently 
>following through to ask any of the questions we 
>can and should, about readers, collectors, 
>reviewers, circuits of reception, or even the 
>longer-term shifting public status of comics.â¬" 
>Whilst there has been some excellent work 
>researching comics audiences and readership, 
>this is currently, as Martin suggests, a largely 
>neglected area. In summarising work in this 
>area, Barkerâ¬"s works on ideology (1989), 
>readers (1993, 1997) and censorship (1984) 
>examine the ways audiences consume such texts. 
>Gibsonâ¬"s work on female comics readers (2003a 
>&b) demonstrates the ways comics influence 
>identity construction and the transgressive 
>reading practices of some female fans. She has 
>also written on historical childrenâ¬"s comic 
>collecting in Britain (2008) and tentatively 
>begun work on British manga audiences (2007). In 
>addition, Wrightâ¬"s work on the development of 
>the comics industry and distribution practices 
>shows how audiences are influenced by but also 
>influence comics creation and production 
>(2001).  However, as Martin suggested there is 
>scope for many more sustained explorations of comics audiences and readership.
>
>The aim of this conference, therefore, is to 
>open up debates in comics audiences and 
>readership. A longer term aim is to produce a 
>special themed issue of The Journal of Graphic 
>Novels and Comics on these topics, and a themed 
>issue of Studies in Comics focusing on 
>underground and independent texts.  Accordingly 
>we are looking for papers in (but not confined 
>to) the following areas surrounding audiences and readership:
>
>Fandom, niche markets and subcultures
>"       Gendered identities (fanboys, women 
>comics readers, encoded rreadership, manga readership)
>"       Subcultural reception and consumption ­ 
>e.g. fractureured identities, responses and 
>poaching of specific texts, slash, cosplay, comicons
>"       Comics shops and their clientele
>"       Online comics production and production
>"       Comics collecting and collections
>"       Children, childhood and comics
>"       Library collections
>Censorship
>"       Children perceived as a problematic audience
>"       Moral panics (e.g. horror comics, 
>underground comics such as  the work of Crumb)
>"       Specific case studies ­ e.g. Mike Diana and the Boileiled Angel case
>"       National and local collection policies 
>for library and other  collections
>
>Globalization, localities
>"       Hybrid identities
>"       Relationship between dominant Americanised texts vs localisedd texts
>"       Localities and small press comics production
>"       Subcultures on the internet
>"       Local responses to global texts
>Readership
>"       Embodied readership
>"       Encoded readership and negotiated identities
>"       Reading practices
>We are also interested in papers on research 
>methods and theories in audiences and readership including:
>"       Assessing the effectiveness of 
>qualitative and quantitative mmethods (focus 
>groups, interview methods, snowballing, internet rhetoric, etc)
>"       Ideological, rhetorical, discursive analytical methods
>"       Reception theory ­ e.g. encoding/decoding
>g
>
>In(ter)dependence
>Readers in the comics industry are frequently 
>also creators, a point that underpins a lot of 
>independent and small press publishing, as well 
>as mainstream texts.  This conference also seeks 
>to explore the status of these 
>readers-turned-creators and analyse their 
>work.  We want to consider the movement from fan 
>to creator, the cultural status attached to the 
>same, and to engage in analyses of relevant 
>texts, exploring the relationship between the 
>roles of creator and reader in comics.
>
>Accordingly we also welcome papers in (but not 
>confined to) the following areas:
>
>"       Underground, independent and small press comics
>"       Fanzines and letter pages
>"       Shared language and iconography
>"       The movement from independent to mainstream
>"       The material product ­ printing, format, 
>Methods of cf capturing the present
>"       Continuity and reader response
>"       The roles of creator and reader
>"       Collaborative creation and the auteur
>Please send abstracts of 250 words to 
>(comicsconference /at/ gmail.com) to reach us by 
>December 31st 2010.  Proposals for panels are 
>also welcomed.  Please indicate in the heading 
>of your email whether your submission deals with 
>â¬SAUDIENCE⬝ or â¬SIN(TER)DEPENDENCE⬝.
>

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