[ecrea] CFP - Staging Illusion: Digital and Cultural Fantasy

Call for Papers: Abstract submission deadline 19th August 2011
Sussex Centre for Cultural Studies and the Centre for Material 
Digital Culture present:-
/Staging Illusion: Digital and Cultural Fantasy /
November 4th 2011, University of Sussex
Confirmed keynote speakers: Professor Vanessa Toulmin (Director of the 
National Fairground archive) and Dr Sarah Kember (Goldsmiths). Confirmed 
plenary speakers: Dr Astrid Ensslin (Bangor), Dr Melanie Chan (Leeds 
Met), Professor Nick Till (Sussex), and Dr Jo Machon (Brunel).
From magicians to immersive media and from the circus to cyborgs, the 
celebration and/or mistrust of illusion has been a central theme across 
a range of cultures. Notions of fakery and deception stand in opposition 
to fantasy and escape; our identities are performative and we learn to 
present ourselves as masked; and postmodern thinkers have criticised 
‘hyperreality’ for its capacity to entice consumption. Yet whilst ideas 
pertaining to ‘cultural dupes’ have long since been dispelled in 
academia, the figure of the ‘mark’ of the fairground scam remains 
culturally ubiquitous, perhaps more so than ever, in an era of (post) 
mechanical reproduction. Is new technology a flight from the real or 
merely a continuation of older cultural forms? Is it necessary, or even 
possible, to define reality in relation to the illusory?
Seeking to place staged illusions across a spectrum of historical, 
geographical and cultural contexts, the conference invites topics that 
might include, but are not limited to:
· (Virtual) Realities – video games, cyborgs, simulacrum, social media, 
new technologies, cosmetic surgery and body modification.
· Magic and Miracles – hauntings, fantasies, the supernatural, the 
paranormal, magicians, impersonators and illusionists.
· Spaces of Illusion – Theatres, fairgrounds, the circus, the music 
hall, virtual spaces/worlds, farms, zoos and theme parks.
· Identity ‘Imposters’ – Identity politics, authenticity, transvestites, 
cross dressers and drag, transphobia, legitimacy, pretensions and 
pretenders.
· ‘The Camera Never Lies’ – art history, frauds, celebrity, image 
manipulation, reality television, 3-d cinema, the magic of cinema.
We are now inviting the submission of abstracts for 20 minute papers 
representing a variety of approaches to and interpretations of the theme 
Staging Illusion from a range of disciplines.
Please email a Microsoft Word document containing your contact details, 
institution and position, along with a 400 word abstract to 
(sccs-conf /at/ sussex.ac.uk) by 19th August 2011.
Registration open soon! Tickets £75 (£45 student)
Visit us on the University of Sussex website 
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/sccs/activities/stagingillusion
Visit our blog for updates http://staging-illusion.tumblr.com/