fan studies and fandom

 An international conference organized by the Laboratorio per lo Studio letterario del fumetto at Ca’ Foscari University and the International Comparative Literature Association Standing Research Committee on Comics Studies & Graphic NarrativeCa' Foscari University, Venice, ITALY - 13-15 November 2024 Andrew Milner, in Locating Science Fiction, argued that “the category SF applies [...] across a whole range of forms, from the novel and short story to pulp fiction and the comic book, from radio serial and television series to drama and film, from examinable set text to rock album”.

Russell Crowe’s talents were globally recognized in the early 2000s after he appeared in a slate of well-received films – L.A. Confidential, Gladiator, and A Beautiful Mind, among others – that earned him critical acclaim. Nevertheless, in the years following these productions, he has continued to be a part of numerous projects with international and creative appeal. Alongside his films are his associations with Roman soccer teams – established in Spera’s (2023) chapter in my recent volume on Gladiator (https://vernonpress.com/book/1213) – his social media presence, and his musical performances.

Annotation

In this thematic issue, we explore the role of neural networks and technologies in media and social life. Considering the rapid development of information technology and artificial intelligence, our society is undergoing fundamental changes in the ways of interaction and communication. We invite authors to consider the deep and all-encompassing influence of neural networks on the formation and perception of media, their role in social interaction, and the changes that neural networks and technology bring to our daily lives.

List of issues for discussion

– Neural networks and technologies in media: media analytics, automation and content generation;

VI INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS ON FANTASTIC GENRE, AUDIOVISUALS AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES

The International Congress of Fantastic Genre, Audiovisuals and New Technologies is an activity of scientific and academic dissemination that is part of Elche International Fantastic Film Festival – FANTAELX, with the collaboration of Miguel Hernández University. Its mission is to disseminate research studies within the different thematic lines of the Fantastic Genre, covering all its possible variants and platforms: cinema, television, theatre, literature, comics, videogames, virtual reality, plastic arts, etc.

PARTICIPATION

Call for Papers: Symposium on "The Identity of Fictional Characters"

Dates: November 15-17, 2023

Location: University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain

Submission Deadline: July 15, 2023

We are pleased to announce the Symposium on "The Identity of Fictional Characters" as part of the "International Comic Book Research Conference: Perspectives from Visual Culture." This symposium aims to delve into the nature of fictional characters, with a specific emphasis on exploring how the identity conditions of characters in visual media, such as comic books, differ from those in written works of fiction.

Sports Fandom

Call for Abstracts/Proposals for Essays for an Edited Collection 
SCREEN STORYTELLERS: The Works of Jon Favreau
Edited by Guy Nicolucci

deadline for submissions: 

August 15, 2023

full name / name of organization: 

Guy Nicolucci/Montclair State University

contact email: 

guynicolucci@gmail.com

Ted Lasso (2020-) is (ostensibly) a half-hour comedy that follows a basic fish-out-of-water plot: its titular American football coach coming to manage fictional English Premier League team A.F.C. Richmond – despite knowing nothing of the sport. But over its (so far) three-season run, the show morphed into a dramedy and eventually, an hour-long ensemble piece rivalling many other “prestige TV” productions. A pandemic sleeper hit, it put streaming service Apple TV+ on the map, winning it many loyal subscribers and countless awards; a curious feat for a show based on a series of humorous ads to promote football (soccer) on NBC Sports.

Horror has been analyzed in literature and film endlessly. But in this modern age of surplus, more niche and obscure mediums for horror have been taking the reigns. With so much media at our fingertips and so readily accessible, film and literature are influenced by independent creations. Video games, web Alternate Reality Games (ARGs), music, Internet culture, and international media have led to the development and evolution of American mainstream horror in the past couple of years. More traditional outlets for terror like books and movies have become stale and formulaic due to Capitalism, restricted to producing what is only guaranteed to be profitable, causing the traditional mediums to take note of these newer forms of scary storytelling.

CFP: paper proposals for session at NeMLA (March 7-10, 2024, Boston, MA)

Editors          

Ellen Bernhard, Assistant Professor of Digital Communication, Georgian Court University, US

Paul Fields, Senior Lecturer in Music, Buckinghamshire New University, UK

Contact

badreligionbook@gmail.com

Deadline for Submissions

31 July 2023

Due in part to well-publicised advancements in generative AI technologies such as GPT-4, there has been a recent explosion of interest in – and hype around – Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies. Whether this hype cycle continues to grow or fades away, AI is anticipated to have significant repercussions for fandom (Lamerichs 2018), and is already inspiring polarised reactions. Fan artists have been candid about using creative AI tools like Midjourney and DALL-E to generate fan art, while fanfiction writers have been using ChatGPT to generate stories and share them online (there are 470 works citing the use of these tools on AO3 and 20 on FanFiction.net at the time of writing).

The call for papers for the next issue of the Australasian Journal of Popular Culture (ISSN 20455852 , ONLINE ISSN 20455860) is now open. 

The deadline for submissions of full articles (5-6k words) is 1 July 2023. The Journal is indexed in SCOPUS (among others), and its remit is broad and international. Please submit your articles for consideration (together with a short bio and institutional affiliation) to both editors: Professor Lorna Piatti-Farnell (lorna.piatti-farnell@aut.ac.nz) and Dr Ashleigh Prosser (ashleigh.prosser@murdoch.edu.au).

As If, But Differently: Meditations on the Realisms of Our Times

01 – 02 December 2023

St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia

A forum dedicated to the 95th anniversary of the

Department of English and American Studies &

the 135th anniversary of St. Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia

Keynote Speakers