Falling in Love Again -
Romantic Comedy in Post-Classical Cinema

Edited by Stacey Abbott & Deborah Jermyn (Roehampton University, UK)

Proposals are sought for a new edited collection on romantic comedy and
post-classical cinema.

Romantic comedy has long been a stalwart of the movies but in recent
years it has been increasingly gaining momentum as one of the
cornerstones of contemporary popular cinema. More than three decades
into the post-classical period, then, this is an opportune moment in
which to revisit and reflect on the industrial/economic/aesthetic
practices, social meanings and textual pleasures of this most enduring
of genres. This collection will re-examine early post-classical rom-com
from the 1970s and 80s (e.g. Woody Allen, Neil Simon, and Rob Reiner),
while equally making a major intervention into existing analyses of the
genre by examining its more contemporary guises and ideologies. While
much has been written on the genre in its classical period, as well as
its transition to post-classical cinema, little consideration has been
given to recent developments within the genre. Given, for example, that
the rom-com has played a major role in the recent fortunes of British
cinema; that it has demonstrated it has the power to transform the
careers of actors such as Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore and Cameron Diaz to
render them global stars; and given that we are seeing the genre
undergoing a period of shifting (gendered) inflections, from Farrelly
Brothers' style 'rom com for boys' to the 'post-feminist' Bridget Jones,
the time is ripe for this publication. Investigating the ideological
implications of the genre while examining and celebrating its pleasures,
Falling in Love Again will provide a timely and necessary contribution
to the study of genre, gender and popular cinema.

Proposals are welcomed on, but not limited to, the following topics and
areas-
-relationship(s) between Classical Hollywood/screwball comedy and
post-classical romantic comedy
-sub-genres of rom-com (eg teen-pics; 'rom-com for boys'; animation)
-gender identities and gender politics; feminism and post-feminism
-issues around race/ethnicity/national identities
-theories and methodologies of the analysis of comedy
-space and place (eg the urban v rural; use of domestic settings)
-New York as quintessential rom-com city
-fashion
-nostalgia
-generic hybridity and intertextuality
-the crossover rom-com (e.g. television, stand-up)
-music/soundtracks/scoring
-sexuality/queer readings/camp
-national, historical and social contexts of production and consumption
(eg Bollywood cinema; changing representations of marriage etc)
-stars/star power/star personas (eg Hugh Grant, Sandra Bullock, Meg
Ryan)
-the new comedian-comedy (eg Jim Carey, Ben Stiller, Will Smith)
-issues relating to authorship (eg Nora Ephron, Woody Allen, Richard
Curtis)
-institutional/economic/production case studies (eg Working Title)
-impact of new media technologies on circulation and reception (digital
technologies, internet, cyberspace)
-audiences and fandom/fan cultures/subcultures
-promotion of 'chick-flicks' and relationship with chick-lit

Proposals are required by January 2 2006, should be approximately 500
words and accompanied by a brief biog. Please submit to both
s.abbott_at_roehampton.ac.uk and d.jermyn_at_roehampton.ac.uk

Stacey Abbott and Deborah Jermyn are both Senior Lecturers in Film and
TV Studies at Roehampton University, UK. Abbott is the editor of Reading
Angel: The TV Spin-Off with a Soul (IB Tauris, 2005) and the author of
Celluloid Vampires (forthcoming University of Texas Press, 2007). Jermyn
is the co-editor of Hollywood Transgressor: The Cinema of Kathryn
Bigelow (Wallflower Press, 2003) and the author of Crime Watching:
Investigating Real Crime TV (forthcoming IB Tauris, 2006).

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Received on Sat Sep 10 2005 - 12:41:13 EDT