[Commlist] Call for Papers: 'You are the killer: the giallo tradition of romance, violence, hedonism and bad taste'

*CFP: You Are the Killer: The Giallo Tradition of Romance, Violence, 
Hedonism and Bad Taste* | University of Porto (CITCEM/ILCML) | Online

Date: 7 May 2025 (Online)
Deadline for submissions: 17 March 2025
Please submit your abstract proposals to these email addresses 
indicating ‘CFP Giallo’:(joanaisabelfduarte /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(joanaisabelfduarte /at/ gmail.com)>, (guimaraesjpc /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(guimaraesjpc /at/ gmail.com)> and (andre.assis.almeida /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(andre.assis.almeida /at/ gmail.com)>.


The 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence of a genre in Italian cinema that 
celebrated gratuitous sex, grotesque characters, garish set design, 
vibrant colors, cheesy music, farfetched narrative arcs and, above all, 
ornate and perplexing murder scenes. That genre was the giallo. At once 
romantic and grotesque, giallo films stand out from other crime flicks 
because they oftentimes try to foster an explicit connection (through 
POV shots, for example) between the act of viewing and that of killing, 
the spectator and the murderer. Said analogy is of course not exclusive 
to giallo cinema, but one might say that the genre overindulges the 
morbid pleasure of identifying with a monster, prompting the question of 
whether we are as innocent as we think we are.

Initially dismissed as a streak of sleazy and very derivative horror 
thrillers, giallo films have since overcome this reputation, emerging as 
a highly influential genre celebrated for its distinctive style. The 
giallo might have emerged from popular literature – in pulp magazines 
and the libri gialli from the Mondadori series – but it was cinema that 
established the giallo as an independent genre. Nevertheless, the 
“yellow” novels already contained complex plots, sometimes gruesome 
murders, suspense, and psychological tension. It was assumed by the 
Mondadori editors that a series of this kind would not require "great 
linguistic or stylistic sophistication”, but it did need “lively 
translations which can be read easily and with pleasure”. Likewise, and 
even more so than the text itself, the eroticism and the stylized 
violence featured in giallo films can be found in Mondadori book covers. 
In that sense, the giallo can be approached in various ways -- not only 
through cinema but also crime fiction and visual culture.

We invite participants to explore such topics as:

- The dark side of the human mind: why do people kill and is there 
anything special about “the mind of the murderer”? Why are gruesome, 
excessively violent crimes committed? What is the connection between 
pleasure and murder?
- Defining Giallo: a generic term in Literature, a genre in Cinema. 
Disparities and affinities between Italian crime fiction, Il libri 
gialli and Giallo movies;
- Fantasy, fairy tales and the supernatural in giallo cinema;
- The influence of Italian giallo on horror, thriller and crime films 
around the world;
- Homages and pastiche in contemporary cinema and literature;
- How crime fiction (Italian and otherwise) played a role in shaping the 
giallo film genre, due to its themes, style and narrative techniques;
- The translation, distribution and reception of giallo novels outside 
of Italy;
- Giallo imagery: the impact of visual culture, such as pulp magazines, 
the distinctive Mondadori covers and film posters, on the identification 
of a literary and cinematic genre;
- Is there giallo literature today and, if not, have other genres taken 
its place?

More info: https://citcem.org/en/events/you-are-the-killer/ 
<https://citcem.org/en/events/you-are-the-killer/>


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