cfp.english.upenn.edu

Call for Papers
Neil Gaiman and Philosophy

The editors of Neil Gaiman and Philosophy, forthcoming from Open Court Publishing Company, invite short abstracts proposing essays for possible inclusion in this volume of Open Court’s series, Popular Culture and Philosophy.

The editors seek proposals that creatively engage with the philosophical concepts explored in Gaiman’s diverse body of work. Essays addressing any aspect of Gaiman’s oeuvre (including comics, novels, television, and film) will be considered, and all should be designed to appeal to an intelligent lay reader interested in Gaiman, philosophy, and popular culture.

Topics and approaches may include, but are not limited to:

Feminist readings or critiques of female characters in Gaiman
Intertextuality
Gaiman as author of children’s/young adult literature
A graphic essay exploring Gaiman’s work in words and images
Berkelian idealism and the Dreamworld
The Metaphysics of dreaming- How real are dreams?
Epicureanism/stoicism and Death
Death: The High Cost of Living and existentialism
The paradox of forgiveness and The Sandman: Season of Mists
The Rational bias: “Three Septembers and a January”
The twins Desire and Despair and the paradox of hedonism.
Delirium, Foucault, and the creation of Madness.
Rewriting mythology. Do fictional characters have absolute qualities and to what extent are we constrained by them?
When are we justified in punishing a morally right action? What Kant, Mill, and ethics of Caring have to say about Morpheus, Orpheus, and the Kindly Ones.
Homelessness and the forgotten: Social invisibility in Neverwhere
Relativism and the social order: When in London Below, how do you act?
Boredom and philosophy in Coraline
Scarlett Perkins and the epistemology of child testimony
Orphanage, adoption, and moral responsibility in The Graveyard Book

Please send abstracts not exceeding 500 words along with a brief biographical profile to Rachel Luria, Wayne Yuen, and Tracy Bealer at neilgaimanandphilosophy@gmail.com by July 1st, 2009. Chapters will be 3-5,000 words in length and will be commissioned by August 31st for delivery by November 30th. Any queries are welcome. Interested contributors are urged to consult other similar volumes, especially Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Philosophy (Chicago: Open Court, 2003).

Please address preliminary enquiries (e-mail contact preferred) to the editors:
c/o Tracy Bealer
Department of English
University of South Carolina
Columbia, SC 29208
neilgaimanandphilosophy@gmail.com