[Commlist] Call for papers - Radical Children's Film and Television

CALL FOR PAPERS: RADICAL CHILDREN’S FILM AND TELEVISION EDITED COLLECTION

Edited by Dr Noel Brown (Liverpool Hope University)
Deadline for proposals: 30 April 2023

I am seeking chapter proposals for possible inclusion in a forthcoming 
volume exploring radical children’s film and television. This edited 
collection is intended as an inaugural volume in the new ‘Children’s 
Film and Television’ book series, published by Edinburgh University Press.

On the surface, there might appear to be an incompatibility between 
children’s media and radical thought. If much of the import of 
children’s fiction lies in the inculcation of received ideologies about 
how societies and individuals comport themselves – ideologies that are 
naturalised and, therefore, largely invisible – then it follows that 
children's culture often aligns with such values. Certainly, ideas of 
radicalism in children's film and television are impossible to reconcile 
with influential claims that children's media merely reproduces 
conservative ideas of culture and society. But such perspectives fail to 
account for diverse and surprisingly prevalent traditions of children’s 
film and television that deliberately challenge political and aesthetic 
orthodoxies, often under a cloak of innocence.

In recent years, a good deal has been written on the topic of radical 
children’s literature. However, very little attention has been paid to 
radical children’s film and television. This volume aims to redress the 
balance. Rather than advancing binary definitions, the focus is on film 
and television that can be seen as radical in context of the social, 
political and aesthetic norms in which it is produced. It will also 
centre on ideas of radical potential – the ways that film and TV 
represent radical content or philosophies in whole or in part, and the 
potential uses of this content by individuals, communities of fandom, 
political groups, and creative practitioners.

The volume will be interdisciplinary in scope and the call is open to 
contributions from across a range of theoretical or methodological 
approaches. I am receptive to proposals that seek to examine shorts and 
features; individual episodes and entire series; punctuating moments of 
radicalism in otherwise apparently ‘conventional’ productions; 
live-action and animation of all types; and documentary (including 
educational films) as well as fiction. The scope is international and 
proposals may cover any historical period.

Possible themes and topics might include (but aren’t limited to):

• Avant-garde aesthetics in children’s film and TV
• Challenges to dominant ideologies across the political spectrum
• Film and television for young audiences that deal with taboo issues 
usually considered off-limits for children
• Film and television that engage children as active citizens empowered 
to change the world
• Audiences (including fans) radicalising children’s film/TV, e.g. 
through queering, parodying, or adopting it for social, cultural or 
political subversion
• Children/young people as producers of radical screen media

More information on the ‘Children’s Film and Television’ series can be 
found here: 
https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/series-children-s-film-and-television
Please send proposals (including abstracts of 400-500 words, and a 
biography of 50–80 words), to Noel Brown at (brownn /at/ hope.ac.uk) by Sunday 
30 April 2023.

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