Call for Papers: Medieval in American Popular Culture: Reflections in Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of Prince Valiant

CALL FOR PAPERS: THE MEDIEVAL IN AMERICAN POPULAR CULTURE

SESSION PROPOSED FOR 2017 ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF THE AMERICAN LITERATURE ASSOCIATION

TO BE HELD AT THE WESTIN COPLEY PLACE, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS FROM 25 TO 28 MAY 2017

PAPER PROPOSALS DUE BY 28 JANUARY 2017

The Medieval in American Popular Culture:

Reflections in Commemoration of the 80th Anniversary of Prince Valiant

             The comic strip Prince Valiant in the Days of King Arthur was launched in 1937 and continues to be produced to this day. Begun by illustrator Hal Foster and now under the direction of writer Mark Schultz and artist Thomas Yeates, Prince Valiant celebrates its eightieth anniversary in 2017. This is a significant achievement for a work of popular medievalism. In recognition of this milestone, the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture seeks papers that explore the appeal (either in the United States or abroad) of the strip and its characters and/or the significance of other works of American medievalism both in the past and in the world today. The session is being submitted for consideration at the 2017 meeting of the American Literature Association to be held in Boston, Massachusetts, from 25-28 May 2017.

            We are especially interested in proposals that respond to one of more of the following questions:

·         Why is the medieval popular in the United States, a nation with no physical connections to the medieval past?

·         What is the continued appeal of the medieval to Americans?

·         Do Americans do different things with medieval material compared to their contemporaries around the globe?

·         How have Americans’ view of the medieval changed over time?

·         Why do some forms of American-made medievalism endure while others are forgotten?

·         How well do American-made medievalisms translate into other media and/or cultural settings?

Please submit proposals to the organizers at medievalinpopularculture@gmail.com no later than 28 January 2017. Please use “Medieval in American Popular Culture” as your subject line. A complete proposal should include the following: your complete contact information, a clear and useful title of your paper, an abstract of your paper (approximately 250 to 600 words), a brief biographical statement explaining your academic status and authority to speak about your proposed topic, and a note on any audio/visual requirements.

Final papers should be delivered between 15 and 20 minutes, depending on the number of presenters. Potential presenters are reminded that the rules of the conference allow individuals to present only one paper at the annual meeting.

Further details on the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture can found at http://medievalinpopularculture.blogspot.com.

Additional information about the conference and the American Literature Association can be found at http://americanliteratureassociation.org/.