cfp.english.upenn.edu

CFP: Scandinavian Film Comedy

"If someone ever asks you if you would like to see a Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Icelandic, Finnish […] comedy then... well, I won’t say ‘Run for your life!!’ but I will say ‘Be careful’. Movies in the north love to deal with serious issues like death, drugs, alcohol and other fun stuff, and even most of our comedies will leave you with a feeling that the world is a horrible place." (http://satwcomic.com/funny-movie)

Scandinavian cinema is better-known for the gloomy pictures of celebrated auteurs than it is for its comedies, but comedy, in its many different forms, has nevertheless been the key genre for the film industries of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden throughout their respective histories. With this special issue of Journal of Scandinavian Cinema we wish to acknowledge the genre’s importance and vitalize the scholarly discussion on comedy in a Scandinavian context – so far a much neglected area for academic inquiry.

We especially, but not exclusively, encourage contributions on the following topics and approaches:

•Early cinema comedy. What forms were adapted in early cinema comedy and how did film comedy develop in Scandinavia?
•Intermedial perspectives: interchanges with popular theatre, radio, television etc
•Changing genres, cycles and genre systems: How do trends in comedy relate to changes in society and/or the film industry?
•Comedians in Scandinavian comedy / The comedian as film star
•Comedy in Scandinavian animation
• Regional, national and transnational aspects of comedy
•Individual directors specializing in comedy
•Comedy and art cinema: comic aspects of Bergman, Trier, Kaurismäki etc
•Comedy, values and taste

We look forward to learning more about particular films, cycles and comedy cultures within Scandinavian cinema, but we ask contributors to keep in mind that a special issue targets a broad international readership. Therefore priority will be given to contributions that balance the specific analysis of films with theoretical and methodological perspectives, and that promote a general understanding of the various roles of comedy in cinema.

Please submit an abstract of 250-300 words for short subjects (2000 words) or feature articles (6000 words) before 15 September 2013 to the Special Issue editors Donald Crafton (dcrafton@nd.edu), Kimmo Laine (kimmo.laine@utu.fi) and Leif Ove Larsen (Leif.Larsen@infomedia.uib.no). Final submissions are due on 1 February 2014. Only submissions that follow Journal of Scandinavian Cinema’s Notes for Contributors will be accepted.

For general information or questions regarding Journal of Scandinavian Cinema, please contact primary editor Anders Marklund (anders.marklund@litt.lu.se) or any other member of the JSCA team: Editors Casper Tybjerg (casper@hum.ku.dk), Andrew Nestingen (akn@u.washington.edu), Gunnar Iversen (gunnar.iversen@ntnu.no) or Managing Editor Rochelle Wright (wrightr@illinois.edu).