Working title: Bridging fantasies: Critical responses to the writing of Iain
(M.) Banks

Iain (M.) Banks is unquestionably an original, innovative writer whose
work is marginalised and remains on the periphery of academic acceptance,
failing to gain recognition from the contemporary canon. His often
experimental, avante-garde and cross-genre narratives are concerned
principally, but not exclusively, with the contestation of identity, sexuality,
and selfhood. Gavin Millar's successful and acclaimed adaptations of 'The Crow
Road' and 'Complicity' have made his work known to a larger audience. As a
high-profile writer who appears regularly on television, Banks has a dedicated
fan base illustrated by the circulation of The Banksoniain, a publication
entirely given over to his writing and thinking. Possibly because of the
difficulty attached to categorising Banks' writing, compounded by his decision
to publish his science fiction writing under the name of Iain M. Banks, his
work has been neglected. Under scrutiny these publishing distinctions seem to
collapse as Banks' use of fantasy is pervasive across his work. Moreover,
characters and personality types also resurface causing a
network of reflections throughout his work.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:
* The Scottish writer
* The fantastic
* Theorising Banks
* Redefining gender
* Other worldliness
* Screening Banks
* Memory
* The threat of incest
* The Gothic and post-Gothic
* The player of games
* The avenging angel
* Variable fictions

Send abstracts (no more than 250 words) by 28th February 2006 to
martyn.colebrook_at_english.hull.ac.uk or to katharine.cox_at_hull.ac.uk please mark
the subject of your email "Iain Banks abstract". Alternatively, you can post
your abstracts to Katharine Cox, University of Hull Scarborough Campus, Filey
Road, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, YO11 3AZ.

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Received on Fri Dec 09 2005 - 15:18:22 EST