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RECONSTRUCTION 11.3: POPULAR FICTION
Edited by Cameron Leader-Picone and Matthew Schneider-Mayerson

For decades, the study of popular fiction in the United States has lagged behind its popularity and influence. Just as film and television have developed their own approaches that reflect the unique social, cultural, political, and industrial dimensions of each medium, so popular fiction should occupy its own critical space. As popular fiction has been underrepresented in studies of narrative generally and American literature more specifically, comparatively minor genres, such as African American "street fiction," engage with canons that have been systematically excluded from academic study. This issue of Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture offers a site for interrogation of the various aspects of popular fiction.

Possible submissions might include:
· theoretical discussions of the role of popular fiction in either literary studies or contemporary culture
· critical examinations of specific popular works, either in terms of their cultural context or literary content
· discussions of popular fiction genres as they are either primarily consumed or produced by specific ethnic, racial or gendered audiences
· film adaptations of popular fiction; additions to the debate over "mass" and "popular" culture
· discussions of fan fiction
· ethnographic or sociological data related to consumption and reader response
· analysis of the use of popular genres in literature more commonly associated with the academy
· reviews that consider both works of popular fiction or works by literary figures that engage with the space of popular fiction.

Please send abstracts of no more than 300 words to reconstructionpf@gmail.com by April 1, 2010. Invited submissions will be due by September 15, 2010.

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture (ISSN: 1547-4348) is an innovative online cultural studies journal dedicated to fostering an intellectual community composed of scholars and their audience, granting them all the ability to share thoughts and opinions on the most important and influential work in contemporary interdisciplinary studies. Reconstruction publishes three themed issues and one open issue per year. Send open submissions (year round) to reconstruction.submissions@gmail.com and submissions for themed issues to the appropriate editors listed on the site at www.reconstruction.eserver.org

Reconstruction also accepts proposal for special issue editors and topics. Reconstruction is indexed in the MLA International Bibliography.