CFP: American Stand-up Comedians as Public Intellectuals (1/15/16)

Taking a Stand: American Stand-up Comedians as Public Intellectuals

Editors: Jared Champion (Young Harris College) and Pete Kunze (University of Texas at Austin)

This past May, The Atlantic ran an article by Megan Garber titled, "How Comedians Became Public Intellectuals," that echoed the familiar scholarly conclusion that stand-up comedy is, at its core, cultural criticism. Garber argues that Amy Schumer's comedy, like that of many comedians, is "making a point about inclusion and exclusion, about the individuality of experience, about the often flawed way we think about ourselves as a collective." Here, Garber situates standup comedians, namely Amy Schumer, in a long line of humorists-as-cultural-critics that includes Jonathan Swift and Mark Twain, for example.

As recent books by scholars Bambi Haggins, John Limon, and Rebecca Krefting have ably shown, American standup comedy has always been a site of intellectual engagement, serving as a popular resistance to charges of American anti-intellectualism. As such, we are hoping to gather essays for a collection that contributes to the analysis of the standup comedian-as-public intellectual since roughly 1980. More than just cultural critics, we want to explore standup comedians as contributors to public discourse via their live performances, podcasts, social media presence, and/or activism. Each chapter will highlight a stand-up comedian and her/his ongoing discussion of a cultural issue or expression of a political ideology/standpoint, such as Amy Schumer and feminism, Jerry Seinfeld and political correctness, Louis C.K. and white privilege, and Dennis Miller and conservatism.

We seek proposals of 300-500 words and have tentatively assigned chapters on Louis C.K., Maria Bamford, Jerry Seinfeld, and Marc Maron. We welcome proposals for additional chapters on standup comedians from a diverse range of backgrounds and contexts. Possible subjects may include Aziz Ansari, Sandra Bernhard, Mike Birbiglia, Lewis Black, Hannibal Buress, Bill Burr, Dave Chappelle, Margaret Cho, Kate Clinton, Ellen DeGeneres, Rob Delaney, Jeff Dunham, Jeff Foxworthy, Jim Gaffigan, Zach Galifianakis, Greg Giraldo, Kevin Hart, Mitch Hedberg, Bill Hicks, Gabriel Iglesias, Anjelah Johnson, Lisa Lampanelli, Larry the Cable Guy, John Leguizamo, George Lopez, Bernie Mac, Mo'Nique, Eddie Murphy, Tig Notaro, Patton Oswalt, Chelsea Peretti, Dat Phan, Paula Poundstone, Chris Rock, Rita Rudner, Kristen Schaal, Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, Wanda Sykes, Reggie Watts, Katt Williams, Ron White, Steven Wright, among others. We seek contributions from a range of disciplines, but request the chapters be written in a clear, accessible manner for both academic and popular audiences. Chapters should be 5,000-6,000 words long with a June 1, 2016 delivery date. Selected contributors must commit to revise by September 1, 2016, in the hopes of 2017 publication date. Palgrave Macmillan has expressed early interest.

Please send abstracts to Jared and Pete at standupintellectuals@gmail.com by January 1, 2016.

Inquiries welcome.

Please note: We have received a good deal of proposals already engaging questions of gender. We will consider any submissions, but encourage proposals that engage with other issues as well.