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CFP NWF at the GKS Annual Conference: Panel on Solidarities in Canadian SFF, Fan, and Horror fiction + Colloquium

#NWFGRAINAU23 

Activities organized by the Emerging Scholars‘ Forum (NWF) of the Association for Canadian Studies in German-speaking Countries (GKS) 

As part of 

Solidarities. Networks – Convivialities – Confrontations 

44th Annual Conference of the Association for Canadian Studies in German-speaking Countries (GKS) 

March 3-5, 2023, in Grainau, Germany 

Deadline for submissions: August 31, 2022 

Conference dates: March 3-5, 2023 

Conference venue: Hotel am Badersee, Grainau, Germany (in-person) 

Queries on and submissions for NWF activities at Grainau23:  Amanda Boyce and Manuel Sousa Oliveira at nwf.grainau2023 [at] gmail.com 

General queries on Grainau23: GKS office at gks [at] kanada-studien.de 

Webpages of interest: 

“With the theme Solidarities. Networks – Convivialities – Confrontations, the annual conference of the Association for Canadian Studies in German-speaking Countries (GKS) will be devoted to the forms and practices of solidarity in Canada and Quebec. It will examine not only the networks and forms of cohabitation that result from them, but also the inherent potential for conflict. The chosen perspective is interdisciplinary, from the angle of Francophone and Anglophone cultural, literary, and linguistic studies, historical sciences, political sciences and sociology, geography and economics, anthropology, and Indigenous studies, as well as women’s and gender studies.” 

Every year, the Emerging Scholars‘ Forum (NWF) of the GKS organizes several activities as part of the annual GKS conference in Grainau, Germany. For the 2023 conference, we are organizing a panel and a colloquium, as well as cultural and social activities. Interested applicants may submit proposals for any of the two following formats: (1) panel on Solidarities in Canadian SFF, Fan, and Horror Fiction, and (2) 2nd Emerging Scholars Colloquium. 

(1) Conventional Panel Format: Solidarities in Canadian SFF, Fan, and Horror Fiction 

Contemporary Canadian writers like Margaret Atwood, Cherie Dimaline (Métis), Nalo Hopkinson, Larissa Lai, Emily St. John Mandel, and Silvia Moreno-Garcia have been increasingly staking their claims in the (inter)national literary scene of SFF, utopian, and horror literatures. Moreover, TV shows like Orphan Black (2013-17), videogames like Darkest Dungeon (2016), and a new wave of Indigenous storytelling which includes movies like Night Raiders (2021) and Slash/Back (2022) are examples of how the narrative potential of SFF and horror have been used in fiction beyond the literary. Still, even though many SFF literary and imaginative artworks coming from Canada have achieved commercial and critical success, there have not been many recent general studies on the topic. Similarly, as a field generally looked at as trans-national, in-depth studies of fan fiction around the Canadian experience are still underrepresented. Scholars, such as Rebecca Katz, have investigated the matter from a Canadian judicial perspective, but not many have yet approached fan fiction from a Canadian content focused one.  

Building on suggestions by critics that Canadian SFF, fan, and horror fiction addresses issues of activism (Barnes Leetal), disability (Barnes Leetal; Clemons), survivance (Higgins), social justice (Mohr), and “bridging” cultures, genders, sexualities and species (Ransom & Grace), in this panel we want to explore how solidarity is depicted, created, and negotiated in Canadian SFF, fan, and horror fiction, and how acts of solidarity may be a central thematic concern of Canadian SFF, fan, and horror fiction. Thus, we hope to bring the literary qualities and socio-cultural relevance of SFF, fan, and horror fiction to the attention of Canadianists in Germany and across Europe.  

We particularly encourage students and ECRs (from BA to Postdoc-levels) to submit a proposal. Proposed papers should find connections between Canadian SFF, fan, and horror fiction and the topics and keywords of the general CFP: Solidarities, Networks, Convivialities, and Confrontations, available here: www.kanada-studien.org/6396/cfp-44th-gks-conference-solidarites-reseaux-convivialites-confrontations-solidarities-networks-convivialities-confrontations. Below we quote a section of the general CFP that might be of interest: 

“Solidarity and language/literature/media  

Language, literature, and other media are important for the representation of different forms of solidarity. These range from the representation of national and regional conceptions of identity, to the representation of protest and resistance movements, to the fictionalization of transnational cultural spaces such as francophonie and americanité. 

Possible contributions in this framework include, among others: 

  • Literary and media representations (traditional and social media) of (practices of) solidarity and its/their negotiation 
  • Historical and current representations of regional and cultural-linguistic forms of solidarity, for example in the context of the „Acadian Reunion“ or militant First Nations protest movements since the 1980s 
  • The literature of care, which raises the question of responsibility towards the Other and intergenerational solidarity”

Topics may include (but are not restricted to) issues of solidarity and: 

  • Utopian literature, particularly Canadian eutopias (i.e., positive utopias)  
  • Dystopian, (post-)apocalyptic and palingenetic fiction 
  • Fantasy fiction and magical realism 
  • Fan fiction with a Canadian focus (i.e., about a Canadian commercial text, or with Canadian characters/setting) 
  • SFF, fan, and horror fiction in mixed-media forms such as graphic novels, movies, TV, and videogames 
  • Indigenous stories, SFF, fan, and horror fiction 
  • Feminist and Queer/LGBTQ+ SFF, fan, and horror fiction 
  • Nature- and environment-oriented SFF, fan, and horror fiction, such as climate or petrol fiction 
  • YA and new adult SFF, fan, and horror fiction 
  • Children’s and middle grade SFF 
  • Multiculturalism, race, religion, and disabilities in SFF, fan, and horror fiction 
  • Ethics, bioethics, empathy, hospitality, and affect in SFF, fan, and horror fiction 
  • Responsibility towards human and more-than-human others in SFF, fan, and horror fiction

Proposals for 20-minute papers for the Solidarities in Canadian SFF, Fan, and Horror Fiction panel may be submitted as a single Word document in French or English, and should include: 

  • Format: Panel  
  • Title of paper 
  • Author’s name, preferred pronouns, and institutional affiliation 
  • Email address 
  • Abstract (c. 250 ww.), outlining methodology and theoretical approaches chosen, content/body of research, and (if applicable) which of the three main axes outlined in the general CFP to which the paper speaks 
  • Short biographical information in third person singular (max. 250 ww.), specifying current institutional affiliation and position, and (if applicable) author’s research background with regard to the conference topic

Some recent references: 

ACCSFF – Academic Conference on Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy: www.yorku.ca/accsff. 

ACCSFF 22 Programme: www.yorku.ca/accsff/22-Program.html. 

Barbour, Douglas. “Canadian Science Fiction.” A Companion to Science Fiction, edited by David Seed. Blackwell, 2005, pp. 309-22. 

Barnes Leetal, Dean. “Those Crazy Fangirls on the Internet: Activism of Care, Disability and Fan Fiction.” Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, 2019, pp. 45–72.  

Clemons, AmyLea. “Enabling/Disabling: Fanfiction and Disability Discourse.” Canadian Journal of Disability Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, 2019, pp. 247–278. 

Higgins, David M. “Survivance in Indigenous Science Fictions: Vizenor, Silko, Glancy, and the Rejection of Imperial Victimry.“ Extrapolation., vol. 57, no. 1, 2016, pp. 51-72. 

Katz, Rebecca. “Fan Fiction and Canadian Copyright Law: Defending Fan Narratives in the Wake of Canada’s Copyright Reforms.” Canadian Journal of Law and Technology, vol. 12, no. 1, 2014, pp. 73-107. 

Kroon, Ariel Petra. Moving Beyond Survival in Twentieth-Century Canadian Post-Apocalyptic Science Fiction 1948-1989. PhD thesis, University of Alberta, 2021. 

Mohr, Dunja M. „“When Species Meet“: Beyond Posthuman Boundaries and Interspeciesism – Social Justice and Canadian Speculative Fiction.“ Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien, vol. 37, 2017, pp. 40-64. 

Osborne, Heather. „Guest Editorial: Canadian Science Fiction.“ Foundation, vol. 49, no. 136, 2020, pp. 19-21. 

Ransom, Amy J. “Parabolas of SFQ: Canadian Science Fiction in French and the Making of a „National“ Subgenre.” Parabolas of Science Fiction, edited by Veronica Hollinger and Brian Attebery. Wesleyan University Press, 2013, pp. 89-105. 

Ransom, Amy J. and Dominick Grace, editors. Canadian Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror: Bridging the Solitudes. Springer, 2019. 

Scott, Conrad. „“Changing Landscapes”: Ecocritical Dystopianism in Contemporary Indigenous SF Literature.“ Transmotion, vol. 8, no. 1, 2022, pp. 10-38. 

Weiss, Allan, editor. The Canadian Fantastic in Focus: New Perspectives. McFarland, 2015. 

—. The Routledge Introduction to Canadian Fantastic Literature. Routledge, 2020. 

Whyte, Kyle P. “Indigenous Science (Fiction) for the Anthropocene: Ancestral Dystopias and Fantasies of Climate Change Crises.” Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, vol. 1, no. 1-2, 2018, pp. 224–242.

(2) Colloquium Format: 2nd Emerging Scholars Colloquium 

The Emerging Scholars Colloquium will offer a safe space for emerging scholars to share and discuss their ongoing research projects with peers and experts. Any emerging scholar from the BA to the Postdoc level working on a dissertation, thesis, or long-term research project in or with a strong emphasis on Canadian Studies (50% or more) is invited to submit a proposal. Any proposal within the field of Canadian Studies (including Language, Literature and Culture in Anglophone Canada; Language, Literature and Culture in Francophone Canada; Women and Gender Studies; Geography and Economics; History; Political Science and Sociology; and Indigenous and Cultural Studies) will be considered regardless of its particular thematic focus. Still, we encourage applicants to find connections with the topics and keywords of the general CFP: Solidarities, Networks, Convivialities, and Confrontations, available here: www.kanada-studien.org/6396/cfp-44th-gks-conference-solidarites-reseaux-convivialites-confrontations-solidarities-networks-convivialities-confrontations. 

To ensure the exchange between emerging scholars, peers and experts is as productive as possible, the emphasis will be on the dialogue between participants and attendees. As such, we invite proposals for brief 15-minute presentations of the main ideas of their projects. This presentation should also raise those key challenges that they are currently facing and that they want to see discussed in the following 15 minutes. This focused exchange will allow participants to gain insightful new perspectives on their own projects. 

Proposals for 15-minute presentations for the 2nd Emerging Scholars Colloquium may be submitted as a single Word document in French or English, and should include: 

  • Format: Colloquium 
  • Title of ongoing BA, MA, PhD or Postdoc project 
  • Author’s name, preferred pronouns, and institutional affiliation 
  • Email address 
  • Abstract (c. 250 ww.), outlining methodology and theoretical approaches chosen, content/body of research, and (if applicable) which of the three main axes outlined in the general CFP to which the paper speaks 
  • Short biographical information in third person singular (max. 250 ww.), specifying current institutional affiliation and position, and (if applicable) author’s research background with regard to the conference topic

Proposal Submissions 

Proposals should be submitted no later than August 31, 2022 to Amanda Boyce and Manuel Sousa Oliveira at nwf.grainau2023 [at] gmail.com, and should indicate in the subject line to which format their contribution is being proposed: 

  • Panel Proposal 
  • Colloquium Proposal 

We are committed to creating a safe and inclusive environment for everyone. Please let us know in advance if you have any accessibility requirements, and we will try to accommodate them as best we can. 

Unfortunately, because there is a very limited number of spots available, interested applicants are advised to submit their proposals asap. Successful applicants will be contacted by early October 2022 at the latest. 

Any queries about the NWF-organized activities at Grainau23 may be sent to Amanda Boyce and Manuel Sousa Oliveira at nwf.grainau2023 [at] gmail.com. General queries about the Grainau23 conference may be sent to the GKS office at gks [at] kanada-studien.de.Seitenumbruch 

#NWFGRAINAU23 Organizers 

Amanda Boyce (they/them), University of Trier 

Manuel Sousa Oliveira (he/him), University of Porto / CETAPS 

Nachwuchsforum der Gesellschaft für Kanada-Studien e.V. / Emerging Scholars Forum of the Association for Canadian Studies in German-Speaking Countries 

Contacts & Social Media 

NWF 

Website: nachwuchsforum.net 

Twitter: @NWFCanStudies 

Facebook: facebook.com/groups/134934376663 

Email: nachwuchsforum [at] gmail.com

GKS 

Website: kanada-studien.org 

Twitter: @GKS_CanStudies 

Facebook: @kanadastudien 

Email: gks [at] kanada-studien.de