Tying Down Almodovar: new perspectives on the cinema of Pedro Almodovar

Edited by Tamar Jeffers McDonald and John Mercer

Introduction
Pedro Almodovar is now widely recognised as the most famous and successful
Spanish film director since Bunuel. With a career spanning 30 years and
including a body of work in excess of 25 films, the time seems ripe for a
comprehensive appraisal of his career, thematic themes and concerns and
his significance both within academic discourse around cinema, within
Spanish culture and as one of the key contemporary directors of
international cinema.

To date, critical attention has tended to focus on the issues of sexuality
that are key themes in Almodovar=E2=80=99s work and his status as a gay
director. Whilst this is central to an understanding of his work,
Almodovar's oeuvre is now such that a range of further issues and
debates have emerged that demand a sustained critical engagement, and the
principle aim of this edited collection is to address this need.

Aims
1. To compile a comprehensive scholarly and critical overview of
Almodovar's oeuvre and his wider cultural significance as a director.
2. To draw together international scholarship that addresses
Almodovar's cinema from a variety of perspectives and utilises a
diversity of critical methodologies.
3. To initiate and provoke further dialogue and discussion amongst film
and cultural studies scholars at all levels.

Proposals
We are seeking proposals for essays of between 6000 to 6500 words for
submission by January 2006 and are especially interested in work that
addresses:

=C2=B7 Issues of national and cultural identity in Almodovar's cinema
=C2=B7 Questions of Authorship
=C2=B7 Performance, stardom and celebrity
=C2=B7 The manipulation of genres
=C2=B7 Issues of style and aesthetics
=C2=B7 Readership and identification
=C2=B7 Sexuality and gender

We particularly welcome submissions that take issue with, challenge or
transcend the orthodoxies surrounding Almodovar's work

In the first instance please send a 300 to 500 word proposal with CV to
_john.mercer_at_bcuc.ac.uk _ (mailto:john.mercer_at_bcuc.ac.uk or) or
_tamar.jeffers_at_bcuc.ac.uk_ (mailto:tamar.jeffers_at_bcuc.ac.uk). Inquiries
can also be addressed to the co-editors at these email addresses.

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Received on Wed May 11 2005 - 15:50:27 EDT