[Commlist] Call for Proposals - Global Atomic Horror: Fears of Nuclear Power in Gothic Literature, Film and Media

*CALL FOR CHAPTER PROPOSALS*

*Global Atomic Horror: Fears of Nuclear Power in Gothic Literature, Film 
and Media*

Edited by Laura Hubner and Abigail Whittall

Abstract deadline Friday 21 October 2022

*Overview*

We invite chapter proposals for an edited volume of critical essays on 
horrific and Gothic representations of nuclear power. Proposals are 
welcome from both new and established scholars. Interest in the volume 
has been expressed by Palgrave Macmillan for their Gothic book series. 
Edited by Professor Laura Hubner (University of Winchester) and Dr 
Abigail Whittall (University for the Creative Arts).

This edited collection will consider the myriad representations of the 
potential dangers of nuclear power within the arts, including 
literature, film, television and video games. While the fear of nuclear 
disaster has been addressed in works on the Cold War, apocalyptic and 
ecocritical fictions, the specific threat of nuclear power within the 
Gothic and horror deserves further consideration.

As a concept highly concerned with cultural anxieties, the Gothic has 
proved fertile ground to express fears of nuclear power. This may 
include both the “terror Gothic” and the “horror Gothic”, as Jerrold E. 
Hogle (2002:3) describes: ‘The first of these holds characters and 
readers mostly in anxious suspense about threats to life, safety and 
sanity kept largely out of sight or in shadows or suggestions from a 
hidden past, while the latter confronts the principal characters with 
the gross violence of physical or psychological dissolution’.

Atomic horror texts emerge from a number of historical contexts in which 
this ever-present anxiety has intensified due to nuclear disaster or 
warfare, such as during the Cold War or in the wake of the Chernobyl 
nuclear disaster. Equally, the contemporary context of the war in 
Ukraine as well as regular reporting on North Korea’s weapons of mass 
destruction has brought such fears to the fore once again. Indeed, in 
line with the geopolitical nature of these events we seek contributions 
considering a range of historical and global contexts.

*Potential Topics*

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

  * Representations of real nuclear disaster, such as Chernobyl or 
Fukushima
  * Fictional nuclear disasters
  * Representations of nuclear weaponry, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki
  * Nuclear apocalypses and post-apocalyptic worlds
  * Nuclear radiation resulting in mutations and monsters
  * More implicit representations of nuclear anxiety

Example approaches:

  * National, transnational and historical contexts
  * Ecocriticism and the ecoGothic
  * Psychoanalysis and trauma studies
  * Transmedia and adaptation
  * Hybridity (e.g. Gothic horror, science-fiction, drama, disaster and
    documentary)

**

*Proposal Submission and Timeline*

Those interested should send a ~300 word proposal and a ~100 word bio 
within one MS word document by 21^st October 2022, to 
(Laura.Hubner /at/ winchester.ac.uk) <mailto:(Laura.Hubner /at/ winchester.ac.uk)> and 
(Abby.Whittall /at/ uca.ac.uk) <mailto:(Abby.Whittall /at/ uca.ac.uk)>. The estimated 
final publication date is early 2024.

*Works Cited*

Hogle, J.E. (2002) ‘Introduction: The Gothic in Western Culture’ In: 
Hogle, J.E. (ed.) /The Cambridge Companion to Gothic Fiction/. 
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp.1-20.

Dr Abigail Whittall
*Post Doctoral Teaching Fellow, Film*
Abigail Whittall | University for the Creative Arts (uca.ac.uk) 
<https://www.uca.ac.uk/About-Us/our-staff/abigail-whittall/>
*University for the Creative Arts* | Falkner Road | Farnham | Surrey | 
GU9 7DS

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