[ecrea] CFP: GSA Comics Series

German Studies Association Conference, October 1-4, 2015, Washington, DC

Panel Series: The German Graphic Novel


This Announcement contains Calls for Papers for the Three Panels in the 
Series

· T The German Graphic Novel I: History ((bsterli /at/ uark.edu))

· The German Graphic Novel II: Adaptations ((kutch /at/ kutztown.edu))

· ?The German Graphic Novel III: Pedagogy ((enijdam /at/ umich.edu))



The German Graphic Novel I: History



The medium of comics provides unique opportunities for exploring the 
concepts of time and history. Within comics, history can be a central 
concern of the narrative or serve as background to more personal 
stories; it can be investigated, augmented, challenged, or reimagined 
both visually and textually. Historical comics approach and represent 
history in a number of modes – from non-fiction to fantastical – and 
across genres – (auto)biography, comedy, historical fiction, alternative 
history, crime and war fiction, science fiction, etc.. In recent years, 
historical comics have grown to constitute a large subset of German 
comics production, most notably in conjunction with major anniversaries 
of the Fall of the Berlin Wall (2009, 2014). The flood of largely 
critical works on the GDR, but also the near absence of German comics on 
the Holocaust, raises questions about the function of history for the 
German comics scene and individual artists. This panel invites 
submissions on a range of topics related to the role of history in 
German comics today. The panel will focus primarily on recent 
production, but papers that address history as a concept in earlier 
works will also be considered.



Possible topics include:

· -Representations of Germany/Austria/Switzerland’s history in comics

· -Interpretations of key historical events (World Wars I and II, the 
Holocaust, 1968, the Wende, etc.)

· -Depictions of historical figures

· -The importance of perspective/ Alternative perspectives (feminist, 
queer, multicultural)

· -Reimagining/Reframing/Retelling/Reinventing history

· - History as a construction

· - Time in comics

· - Nostalgia

· - Memory (falllibity and /or reliability), accuracy, accountability, 
honesty, truth

· -Myth



Please send abstract submissions of 350 words as well as a short bio to 
Brett Sterling ((bsterli /at/ uark.edu)) by January 19, 2015.



The German Graphic Novel II: Adaptations



Over the past decade in Germany, several independent, and more recently 
larger publishing houses, have produced an astonishing number of graphic 
novel titles, as is evident from their increasing presence at venues 
like the Frankfurter Buchmesse. In fact, comic adaptations of literary 
works have comprised an impressively diverse sub-genre, encompassing 
works by ETA Hoffmann, Franz Kafka, Thomas Bernhard and Arthur 
Schnitzler, to name a few.



Various angles of debate have often accompanied adaptations of classic 
or literary works, including their fidelity to the source text, the 
artistic liberties that the new authors take, and the aesthetic 
implications of these creative decisions. However, these arguments have 
largely structured the study of film adaptation; and only a minimal 
amount of scholarship has appeared to date on graphic or comic adaptation.



Research in the field of German-language comic adaptation is even more 
limited, yet the increasing prevalence of these adaptations on the 
German comics scene and their aesthetic innovations merit serious 
critical inquiry. This panel seeks to establish an analytical framework 
for discussing comic adaptations and to strengthen and expand this field 
of scholarship.



Possible topics may include but are not limited to:

· -Literary Criticism and the Comic Adaptation

· -Illustration versus Adaptation

· -The artistic merits of graphic adaptations of classic or literary 
German-language texts

· -The artistic challenges of graphic adaptations of classic or literary 
German-language texts

· -The role of interpretation in creating adaptations

· -Comic adaptation as a form of literary translation

· -Reevaluating the German-language literary canon

· -Graphic adaptations of German film

· -The role of graphic novel adaptations in German visual culture



Please send abstract submissions of 350 words as well as a short bio to 
Lynn M. Kutch ((kutch /at/ kutztown.edu)) by January 19, 2015.




The German Graphic Novel III: Pedagogy



While commenting on the sequential art of Rodolphe Töpffer, the Swiss 
father of modern comics, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe made an insightful 
observation on the potential of the medium. He reflected that“[i]f 
Töpffer did not have such an insignificant text before him, he would 
invent things which would surpass all our expectations”. Since that 
fateful remark in 1830, Goethe’s prediction has become a reality, and 
comics have developed into a well-respected medium that is becoming 
established within the Academy. However, while scholarship continues to 
illustrate the pedagogical value of integrating comics in literature, 
history and language syllabi, the role of graphic narrative in the 
contemporary university classroom is still contested, and German Studies 
is slow to adopt pedagogical trends in Comics Studies. This panel seeks 
to incite conversation on this lacuna in our discipline and interrogate 
the emergent role of Comics Studies in teaching German history, culture, 
literature and language. With a specific emphasis on pedagogy, we are 
soliciting papers that engage debates on the merits and challenges of 
integrating comics into the German Studies classroom.



Possible topics may include but are not limited to:

· -Comics Studies in German Studies: interrogating the position of 
Comics Studies in the Academy and advocating for its place in German Studies

· -Methods of Reading: strategies for reading and analyzing graphic 
narrative

· -The past, present and future of graphic novel scholarship

· -Teaching Language with Comics: integrating comics into the language 
classroom, L2 success stories and syllabus suggestions

· -Teaching History with Comics: using graphic novels to teach German 
history

· -Using Comics to Teach German Classics (Faust, Im Westen nichts neues, 
Flughunde)

· -Teaching Medium Specificity: cross-comparisons with comics, 
literature and film (Die Welle, Die Wolke)



Please send abstract submissions of 350 words as well as a short CV to 
Elizabeth (Biz) Nijdam ((enijdam /at/ umich.edu)) by January 19, 2015.





Please note that presenters must be members of the German Studies 
Association (see www.thegsa.org for membership information), and no one 
individual may give more than one paper or participate in more than two 
public roles.



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