cfp.english.upenn.edu

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture, Issue 12.1

The Locations of Stardom

We invite proposals for contributions to a themed issue of Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture focused on the transnational locations of stardom. The expansion of "celebrity industries" to support the global fascination with celebrity culture has prompted a series of scholarly assessments of stardom that dwell on the construction of stardom in a shifting technological apparatus. Building on this scholarship, this issue will explore the cultural, political, and institutional significance of stardom in relation to its transmedia locations, thus expanding upon what Barry King has recently termed the "poetics of marketability."
While stardom and celebrity define distinct forms of fame, this issue will consider the ways in which the locations of stardom have become defined by the industrial, political, and cultural expansions of celebrity culture. We suggest that the “location” of stardom is often conceived in or as circulation. Emphasizing this interplay between circulation and location, we also welcome reflections on star images that resist flexible global itineraries and remain bound to specific textual forms and local zones of reception.
Possible areas of focus include:
the reception of stars in and across different local, national, and global communities
the impact of the dislocations of immigration, translation, and adaptation on the national, racial, and sexual coordinates of individual star images
the production and circulation of stardom by various corporations and governments in national, multinational, and paranational forms
the possibility for independent modes of stardom within networks of corporate and governmental interests and investments
stardom as a potential site of contestation of the global market
the personal and political place of the audience in the consumption of stardom
the discourses of passing, hybridity, or improvisation in theorizing stardom
We invite proposals from scholars working in a broad range of disciplines (including but not limited to literature, film, art, architecture, politics, history, and music). We also encourage submissions (including personal essays and interviews) from writers (scholars, journalists, and bloggers) who are already participating in the online analysis of the transmedia circulation of stardom.

Please send abstracts (300-500 words) to Lisa Patti (ldp3_at_cornell.edu) and Stanka Radovic (stanka.radovic_at_utoronto.ca) no later than April 1, 2011 or completed articles by June 1, 2011. We encourage you to forward this CFP to interested parties and lists.

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture (ISSN: 1547-4348) is an innovative 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 one open issue and three themed issues quarterly. Reconstruction is indexed in the MLA International Bibliography.

Lisa Patti
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Theater, Film, and Dance
Cornell University

Stanka Radović
Assistant Professor
Department of English and Drama
University of Toronto, Mississauga