CFP: Graphic Novels (4/1/07; M/MLA, 11/8/07-11/11/07)

M/MLA Convention 2007
Special Session: "BAM! POW! ZAP! The Graphic Novel Meets Literature in the Gutter."

Although the cartoon and, later, the comic book, are fairly well established forms, the
graphic novel is a relatively recent development in comic book history. Some critics view Art
Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize for his influential work, Maus, as a clear indicator that the graphic
novel has been officially dragged out of the comic book nerd’s dingy bedroom and into the
light of critical acclaim in mainstream media and college classrooms. But what is a graphic
novel, exactly? To develop and contribute to the emerging critical vocabulary surrounding
this medium, we invite papers that explore the many formal facets that comprise it, including
the intersections between image and text; graphic novel genres (autobiography, fantasy,
superhero, etc); audience and reception; seriality and narrative strategies; narrative realism;
formal hybridity.
Please direct abstracts (4/1/07) and queries to Angela Szczepaniak, Univ. at Buffalo,
aws4_at_buffalo.edu

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Received on Tue Mar 13 2007 - 20:41:26 EST