cfp.english.upenn.edu

Julia Kristeva’s work on abjection reminds us that horror is often keyed to things that decompose, rot, or lose their form. This formal concern is a literary one as well: fictions of horror also revel in de-composition, that is, in significations that lose their composure, in letters that refuse to convey, or in utterances that seem to be without subject or object. Horror Studies is seeking essays for a special issue devoted to horror and textuality that will address problems of textual decomposition. In the twentieth century’s turn to the film image as arguably the primary vehicle for horror, “Decomposing Fictions” will address how theories and practices of textuality resonate with or operate differently from the visual horror image. Possible topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Experimental forms for horror fiction (as in Bret Easton Ellis, Mark Z. Danielewski, Stephen King, etc)
• Deconstructions and their horrific offspring
• Case Studies: horror at the crime scene, the gothic scene, the medical scene
• Graphic Novels: between image and text
• Image as text, text as image
• Ekphrasis at its limits
Essays of approximately 8500 words (including apparatus) should be sent to Steven Bruhm (sbruhm2@uwo.ca) by 1 May 2011. Horror Studies uses Harvard Style in its formatting; authors should consult http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals/view-Journal,id=151/ and download the full style sheet.