Essay Collection: Smallville
Articles are invited for an essay collection on Smallville.
Superman has held audiences' attention since his first appearance in 1938. Since then the Man of Steel and his fellow characters have never left the audiences' sight. Multiple reinventions and installments found a highpoint between the years 2001-2011 with the CW´s hit series which not only told the story of Superman´s teenage years for the first time, but also added new characters such as Chloe Sullivan. Moreover, including members of the Justice League and the Justice Society of America opened up the series' universe even more and created an alternate universe in the DC realm like few Superman installments before. After its successful ten-year run, Smallville´s story is far from over and although the actors are ready to move on, their audience is not. The series continuation as a graphic novel leaves more room to experiment with different formatting and even more interesting storylines. Moreover, Smallville's active fan base continues to produce fan fiction and videos online, illustrating the continuing interest in the series.
This collection will examine a variety of issues surrounding this retelling and expansion of the Superman universe(s).
The following categories suggest possibilities but are by no means exhaustive:
• Fandom and/or Reception
• Transformation and/or Adaptation
• Gender
• Race
• Sexuality
• Romance and Desire
• Power
• Monstrosity
• Heroism
• Villainy
• Identify
• Visual Style and practices
• Smallville's usage and representation of known DC Comics characters and stories
• Representations of masculinity, femininity, race, sexuality and family within Smallville
What to Send:
300 - 500 word abstracts (or complete articles, if available) and CVs should be submitted by June 1, 2013. If an abstract is accepted for the collection, a full draft of the essay (5000 – 8000 words) will be required by December 1, 2013.
Abstracts and final articles should be submitted to: supernaturaltelevision@gmail.com and Nadine.Farghaly@gmx.net