[Commlist] CFP: Bonkbusters and Soap Operas: Representing Sex, Glamour, and Melodrama on Screen

*Bonkbusters and Soap Operas: Representing Sex, Glamour, and Melodrama 
on Screen*
*Saturday 21st June 2025*
*Falmouth University*
This free in-person symposium will be an interdisciplinary and global 
exploration of Bonkbusters, Soap Operas and Made-for-TV Melodramas.
While better known as novels, the Bonkbuster spawned numerous 
melodramatic mini-series and film adaptations, including Shirley 
Conran’s /Lace /(1984), Jackie Collins’/The Stu/d (1978); Judith 
Gould’s/Sins/ (1984); and Judith Krantz’s/Scruples/ (1980). These 
adaptations, along with original made-for-TV melodramas, sprawled across 
TV screens in the 1970s-80s alongside glamorous and scandalous soap 
operas like /Dallas/ (1978-91) and /Dynasty /(1981-89). These texts both 
reflected and shaped attitudes toward popular cultural concerns, 
including the AIDS panic and the Porn Wars, as well as engaging with and 
challenging contemporary discourses on feminism, the ageing female body, 
race, class, capitalism, power, celebrity, sexuality and ‘acceptable’ 
female desire within their plot driven narratives and often highly 
glamorous locations.
As we moved into the 21st century, /Footballers Wives /(2002-2006) 
became popular viewing, although, despite its ‘glamour’ and ruthless and 
sexy older heroine, Tanya Turner, it was arguably more often the subject 
of laughter than titillation. 1980s’ soap legends, /Dynasty/ (2017-2022) 
and /Dallas/ (2012-2014) were resurrected, albeit to a much more muted 
reception.
But, once again, the Bonkbuster adaptation is currently in the midst of 
a revival with the recent release of Jilly Cooper’s /Rivals/ (October 
2024) on Disney+ to much critical and popular acclaim. In the 
post-#metoo era and with the threats of austerity and the roll-back of 
hard-earned women’s rights looming, this new production is having to 
navigate questions of gender, race, sexuality, and political 
sensibilities in a vastly different political and cultural climate.
This one-day in-person symposium will explore sex, scandal, and glamour 
in Bonkbusters, Soap Operas, and Made-for-TV Melodramas from the 
1960s-present, questioning how they engage with contemporary issues, 
including politics, gender, race, class, sex and sexuality, economics, 
celebrity, and power. It will explore their impact, both globally and 
historically, while asking ‘what’s next for melodrama on our screens?’.
We hope you will join us for this exciting event, which will bring 
together scholars, researchers, students, and enthusiasts to share their 
research, insights, and perspectives in an open and inclusive 
atmosphere. We welcome submissions for individual twenty-minute papers 
as well as for full panels and workshops. Subjects can include (but are 
not bound by):

  *
    The portrayal and evolution of melodrama
  *
    Representing power
  *
    Wealth and poverty
  *
    Cultural, historical, and social contexts
  *
    Global soap operas and melodramas
  *
    Celebrity, fans, and representations
  *
    Race, class, gender
  *
    Sex and desire
  *
    Pleasure and the popular
  *
    Bonkbusters, Romance, and Erotica
  *
    Bonkbusters, soap operas, and melodrama and the market
  *
    Representing sex and relationships in the pre- and post-#MeToo
    landscape
  *
    Writing drama
  *
    Youth and ageing
  *
    Costume, sets, and cinematography
  *
    Material culture
  *
    Politics, economics, and social perspectives
  *
    Box office and sales
  *
    Femininities and masculinities
  *
    Queer representations
  *
    Sex and sexualities on screen
  *
    Audiences

We will also be holding a film screening and wine reception on the 
Friday before the conference.
*Submissions:*
Proposals should include a title, an abstract of 250–300 words, a brief 
biographical note (up to 100 words), and contact details. Panel 
proposals are very welcome.
Please submit your proposals in a Word document to the team at 
(sensationconference /at/ gmail.com) by*23rd May 2025.* We encourage 
submissions from scholars at all stages of their careers, including 
early career researchers, and postgraduate students. Interdisciplinary 
approaches and innovative methodologies are welcome.

/This event has kindly been sponsored by the British Association of 
Film, Television, and Screen Studies/


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