MAPACA Sessions Update

I am saddened to report that only one of our proposed sessions for MAPACA's 2019 conference received enough submissions to make a viable panel.

Here are the details. I'll update the blog further once the session has been placed on the schedule.

Michael Torregrossa


2019 Annual Conference of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association
Pittsburgh Marriott City Center Hotel, Pittsburgh, PA
7-9 November 2019
https://mapaca.net/conference

Medieval Undead/Undead Medievalisms (A Roundtable)

Sponsored by the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture for the Medieval & Renaissance Area of the Mid-Atlantic Popular & American Culture Association

Organizer: Michael A. Torregrossa, Independent Scholar

Presider: Scott Manning, Independent Scholar

Undoubtedly, the modern concept of the zombie is a recent phenomenon, with origins in Haitian folklore and American film and fiction (notably George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead and Richard Matheson’s “I am Legend”). Nevertheless, the zombie is also indebted to horrors of earlier ages, including the revenants of medieval folklore and literature; although, enthusiasts of present-day zombies often overlook this heritage. Meanwhile, some modern creators of representations of zombie menaces seem to tap into to this tradition in bringing to life new undead creatures that mash the medieval with the modern by allowing more familiar zombies and zombie-like entities to shamble across medieval landscapes. Despite the variety and vitality of these traditions, both the medieval undead and undead medievalisms remain largely neglected by scholarship.

Through this roundtable session, the Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture seeks to bridge the apparent divides between modern and medieval and medieval and modern. We endeavor to foster discussion that allows the undead of the medieval past and the zombies found in medieval-inspired narratives of today to come into contact through our teaching and research. The topic is especially relevant to this conference, given that its “unofficial” theme of is “Pittsburgh: Zombie Capital of the World” in honor of Romero and his work.


Embodying Absence: The Medieval and Modern Undead
Peter Dendle, Pennsylvania State


The Divine Undead/The Undead Divine
Elliott Mason, Concordia University


Draugar and White Walkers: Winter Zombies of the Old North
Richard Fahey, University of Notre Dame


Tomes of the Dead: Medievalism, Zombies, and Historical Fantasy-Horror in Viking Dead and Stronghold
Carl Sell, Indiana University of Pennsylvania