cfp.english.upenn.edu

CFP: Satire in Popular Culture
EXTENDED DEADLINE: Abstracts/Panel Proposals by 2 December 2012

Southwest/Texas Popular Culture and American Culture Associations Conference,
February 13-16, 2013, Albuquerque, NM
“Celebrating Popular/American Culture(s) in a Global Context”

Conference website: http://swtxpca.org
Conference hotel: Hyatt Regency Hotel & Conference Center
300 Tijeras Ave NW
Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87102 USA

Presentation abstracts and panel proposals are now being accepted for the Satire Area. Satire is one of the most effective ways to call attention to social issues and to establish commentary on them. This area will examine the role of satire in popular culture, including (but not limited to) the issues, events, and people targeted by current satire, the techniques used by satirists, and the various effects that this kind of social commentary has on its audience. This year, we are happy to be included under the Film, Television, and Media Studies umbrella.

Primary sources might include but are not limited to
• Selected episodes and/or segments of South Park, The Boondocks, The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, and others, including a great many from Cartoon Network’s late-night specialty lineup, Adult Swim.
• Selected films and/or segments of films; anything from Brazil (1985) to Team America: World Police (2004).
• Adaptations of classic and contemporary satiric literature; anything from Jonathan Swift to Terry Pratchett.

Suggested discussion topics might include politics and government, religion, ethics and morality, censorship, race and ethnicity, gender, corporate America, consumerism, current events, political correctness, and many more.

We would like to encourage presenters to draw a clear distinction between satire and other modes of humor, such as parody. This distinction will help create discussion and debate this year and in the future, while maintaining the standard for our area. Remember to allow each work to stand on its own as satire, rather than grouping an entire body of work together.

***Submit paper abstracts of 250 words and/or panel proposals no later than 2 December 2012 to the conference database: http://conference2013.swtxpca.org.

For other information, please contact area chair Alana Hatley at alanahatley@gmail.com.

Don’t forget to check out the graduate awards at http://www.swtxpca.org/documents/48.html.

See you in Albuquerque!