CFP for SCMS on Paranormal Media
Call for Papers for Society for Cinema and Media Studies (SCMS)
Annual Conference, 2013
Paranormal Media
Annette Hill, in Paranormal Media: Audiences, Spirits and Magic in
Popular Culture, observes that in recent years, paranormal beliefs
have entered the mainstream. Although the paranormal had a presence
in popular culture and various media forms for centuries, the past
decade has reflected a proliferation across media, from paranormal
romance fiction (in the form of the Twilight series and its many
imitators) to a resurgence in the paranormal horror film, witnessed
in the success of such films as Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli,
2007) and Insidious (James Wan, 2011). Television has also proved a
beneficial medium for paranormal narratives, particularly (but not
limited to) dramas (True Blood, American Horror Story, Supernatural,
The Walking Dead) and reality television (Ghost Hunters, Paranormal
State). As a panel, “Paranormal Media” investigates the unique
relationship between the paranormal and media, including its
connections to the horror genre and the possibilities it offers in
film, television, and new media.
Panel papers may examine questions of genre, production, paratexts,
reception, etc. Although we are particularly interested in media
dealing with ghosts, we also welcome scholarship on texts featuring
demons, aliens, witches, vampires, werewolves, and assorted
“things that go bump in the night,” demonstrating the diversity
of paranormal media and its study.
* Generic hybridity
* Representations of gender and sexuality
* Representations of social class and race, including whiteness
* Convergences between the horror genre, reality TV, and “found
footage”
* Reception/audience studies
* Relationship between the paranormal and issues of medium/apparatus
* Historical approaches (previous manifestations of the paranormal
in media)
Abstracts should be approximately 500 words in length, and
accompanied by a brief bibliography (five items maximum) and a short
biography of the author. Please email your abstract as a .doc file
to Drew Beard (abeard3@uoregon.edu [1]) by August 15, 2012. All will
be notified as to the status of their proposal by August 20, 2012.
