I believe the land is "Fantasia" not "Fantastica". I look forward to submitting! On Monday, February 11, 2019, Janine Leona Schleicher < [log in to unmask]> wrote: > Call for Papers > > Romanticism again and again! In autumn 1979, Michael Ende’s novel The > Neverending Story was published in the Federal Republic of Germany. Even to > Ende’s contemporaries, Bastian’s journey to Fantastica and back seemed to > be the beginning of a revitalization of romantic longings and ideas within > popular culture. Almost at the same time, US-American cinema discovers the > genre of fantasy film. The motif of Campbell’s hero’s journey, a world that > needs healing and the interconnectedness of all things becomes a > constitutive trait of these films’ poetics. > > On the one hand, the corresponding novels and films emerged in answer to > the uncertainty of a bipolar world – fear of the atomic bomb and nuclear > fallout as ultima ratio of the Cold War – and the nascent awareness of > environmental vulnerability. On the other hand, they, like their famous > predecessors, have been accused of a penchant for escapism and > ill-conceived inwardness. > > A similar area of tension can be observed in the fantasic today. Once > again, the potential of recent speculative fiction as well as its critique > seem to be indicating a core collection of romantic notions. Like at the > end of the 18th century, romanticism and the fantastic provide a corrective > to the frigid, mercantile rationality of a world that no longer knows any > secrets. In light of contemporary political, economic and ecological > distortions, speculative fiction is looking for ways of rethinking the > world – and man’s place in it. And once again, the fantastic is accused of > turning its back on hard facts and necessities to take refuge in > sentimentalized other-worlds. > > Based on these findings, the conference will pursue two goals: First, it > intends to take a critical look into the relationship of romantic ideas, > poetics, and images to possible genealogies of the fantastic. What is to be > gained by locating fantastic works in a romantic tradition? Does this > dialogue facilitate a deeper understanding of the continued effect of > romanticism or poetics of the fantastic? Second, the resilience of > speculative fiction’s inherent capability for critique is to be scrutinized > in reference to its romantic origins. Can the relation between fantastic > worlds and everyday reality be conceptualized in a way that forgoes the > dichotomy of critical realism and ahistorical escapism? Would it be > possible to illustrate, using its stories, images, and audiovisual > presentations, the untenability of accusations which label the fantastic as > being politically reactionary and aesthetically conservative – or do the > subversive moments in its poetics remain marginal? > > > > All contributions are welcome which examine the complex relationship > between romanticism and specific implementations/ of the fantastic, its > types and genres, protagonists, and media, on a theoretical, historical, > and analytical level. > > > > Possible Topics: > > Universal poetry and worldmaking (atmosphere, synesthesia, science and art > as modes of knowing and experiencing) > Media of the supernatural: romantic concepts of media and their influence > on the mediality of the fantastic > Romantic conceptions of history and the faculty of historic imagination as > driving forces of the fantastic (recourse to the Middle Ages) > Fairy tales, myths, and legends as genres and modalities of fantastic > narratives > Traditions of gothic fiction in modern fantasy > Updating gothic topoi in contemporary horror cinema (for instance ghosts, > living dolls and possessed clerics in the Conjuring-franchise, or witches > and religious mania in folk forror) > The beautiful and the sublime, the gruesome and the grotesque as models > for poetics of affect in horror and fantasy > Romantic imagery and its influence on visual forms of the fantastic (art, > comic, film, series, computer game etc.) > Forms, practices and theories of the fantastic in the era of romanticism > (ghost and witch lore, demonology, phantasmagoria etc.) > Soundscapes which establish a quasi-natural stance beyond the human (as in > Dark Ambient or Drone Metal) > Poetics of fantasy as modes of magical thinking > Romantic poetics and the becoming-fantastic of the ordinary > Forms of romantic love in fantasy > Fantasy as a form of political romanticism > > > As usual at GFF conferences, there will be an open track for all lectures > which are not directly related to the topic of the conference. Hence, we > are open to further proposals. > > > > The GFF offers two scholarships of 250 euros each to students to help > cover their travel expenses to the conference. Please indicate if you would > like to be considered when submitting your abstract. > > > > Deadline for abstracts and short biographies (max. 2000 characters): > January 1st-February 28th, 2018. > > Submission of constituted panels (3-4 speakers) is encouraged. > > > > Submission form: https://www.conftool.org/gff2019/ > > > > For additional inquiries, mail to: [log in to unmask] > > > > Conference Board: Jun.-Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Bakels, Regina Brückner, > Jun.-Prof. Dr. Matthias Grotkopp, Dr. Tobias Haupts, Dr. Daniel Illger, > Cilli Pogodda, Prof. Dr. Michael Wedel > > ---- > To sign off Screen-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF > Screen-L > in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask] > -- Alexandra Nakelski Director of Programming/Film Scholar www.manifestofilmfestival.org ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: https://listserv.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html