[Commlist] CFP: Paul Verhoeven@85

*Paul Verhoeven//@85: Critical Approaches*

Paul Verhoeven//(b. 1938) has left an indelible mark on popular culture. 
His films marry a European arthouse sensibility with the US blockbuster 
but in a wickedly satirical way. Yet this does not mean his films are 
not open to criticism.

His American dystopic trilogy – /RoboCop /(1987), /Total Recall/ (1990) 
and /Starship Troopers /(1997) – provided dark visions of futuristic 
metropoles that continue to resonate to this day, touching on 
capitalism, robotics, biopolitics, posthumanism, urban planning, 
artificial intelligence, transhumanism and climate change, while 
female-led dramas, such as /Basic Instinct /(1992), /Showgirls /(1995), 
/Black Book /(2006), /Elle /(2016) and /Benedetta /(2021), remain 
controversial for their overt eroticism, sexual violence and 
representation of lesbianism.

To critically explore the origins and legacies of Verhoeven’s body of 
work, this edited collection proposes to bring together scholars from 
diverse disciplinary backgrounds to explore Paul Verhoeven’s output, 
debate its legacy and consider its position within visual culture 
including specialists from fields as diverse as literary and 
cinematographic studies; the history of art, design, fashion and 
architecture; musicology; philosophy; political sciences; computer 
science and robotics; urban and ecological studies; and feminist, queer 
and sexuality studies.

We welcome contributions from any perspective such as (but not limited 
to) the following:

Paul Verhoeven as auteur: origins, influences, production, aesthetics, 
publicity, reception, afterlife, sequels and director’s cuts

Paul Verhoeven and biopolitics, posthumanism, urban planning and climate 
change

Paul Verhoeven and capitalism, neoliberalism, post-industrialism and the 
rise of multinational corporations

Paul Verhoeven and gender

Paul Verhoeven and memory

Paul Verhoeven and psychoanalysis

Paul Verhoeven and race, ethnicity and Otherness

Paul Verhoeven and reception: audiences, fandom and ‘cult’

Paul Verhoeven and robotics, artificial intelligence, cybernetic 
organisms, the transhuman and the post-human

Paul Verhoeven and science fiction

Paul Verhoeven and sexuality

Paul Verhoeven and stardom

Paul Verhoeven and tech noir, retrofuturism, future noir, and cyberpunk.

Please send a short abstract and biographical paragraph (no more than 
400 words) in one document by 1 March 2024.

For further information, please contact the editors Nathan Abrams and 
Elizabeth Miller ((PaulVerhoevenConference /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(PaulVerhoevenConference /at/ gmail.com)>).

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------