CFP: Gothic Rewritings from the Victorian Age until the Present Day (Netherlands) (5/1/05; 11/9/05-11/11/05)

CALL FOR PAPERS

NOSTALGIA OR PERVERSION?
GOTHIC REWRITINGS FROM THE VICTORIAN AGE UNTIL THE PRESENT DAY

International interdisciplinary Conference
Radboud University Nijmegen (NL)
11/9-11/2005

The term Gothic has a long and varied history. Its meaning ranges from
medieval building-styles through Victorian literature to the Gothic
revival in present-day popular culture. These various modes of Gothic
share a fascination with isolation, death, religion and rituals.
However, the treatment of these themes seems to show a distinct
development. Whereas the Victorian Gothic novel was increasingly
preoccupied with sexuality and vampirism, modern rewritings of the
Gothic often address deviant sexual behaviour, the occult and the dark
side of human nature. Gothic rewritings can be read as perversions of
the old stories, in which Gothic isolation leads into phantasm and
excess.

During the international conference Nostalgia or Perversion?, speakers
from different disciplines will address these issues. The conference
will shall aim both at giving an overview of the history of Gothic
rewritings, and at reflecting upon the tension between nostalgia and
perversion in such works. Papers will address the emergence, rewriting
and perversion of the Gothic themes mentioned as well as their artistic
and/or social function in literature, music, film, fashion and digital
arts.

Present-day Gothic subculture, moreover, has a large influence on identity:
being Goth does not only entail reading Gothic stories and listening to
Gothic music, but also dressing in black Victorian clothes, having piercings
and tattoos, an interest in unorthodox sexual practices and in death or
sometimes even suicide. Being Goth thus means participating in a collective
lifestyle which demands a radical internalisation of elements generally
regarded as deviant or perverse. In Gothic subculture, identity can
therefore be defined as a performative category closely connected to
perversion: it is formed in the interaction between the Goth's internalised
deviation and her or his social environment.

Our conference venue at convent Soeterbeeck in the picturesque village
of Ravenstein near Nijmegen will form a suitable context for a
conference on the Gothic.

For more information about the conference, please check our website:
www.let.ru.nl/gothicconference

Proposals are invited for papers of 20 minutes duration (after each
paper 10 minutes will be allowed for discussion). Proposals should be
submitted as an abstract of not more than 250 words. The abstract should
be preceded by information under the following headings: NAME,
INSTITUTION, POSTAL ADDRESS, PHONE, FAX, EMAIL ADDRESS.
The deadline for receipt of abstracts is 01/05/2005. Acceptance of a
proposal will be at the discretion of the organisers.

Abstracts may be emailed or posted to
Isabella van Elferen: I.v.Elferen_at_let.kun.nl
Or: gothicconference_at_let.ru.nl
Radboud University Nijmegen
Dept. of Comparative Arts and Cultural Studies
Postbus 9103, 6500 HD Nijmegen
The Netherlands

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Received on Fri Mar 04 2005 - 09:51:19 EST