****CALL FOR PAPERS UPDATE****

The journal MELUS has recently placed a moratorium on submissions. However,
this moratorium DOES NOT apply to the special graphic narrative issue of
MELUS already in progress. In order to account for any misunderstanding and
confusion concerning this matter, the deadline for essay submissions for
this special issue has been pushed back to July 15, 2006. For more details,
go to the special issue website,
http://faculty.tamu-commerce.edu/droyal/melus.htm, or see below:

------------------------------------
MELUS Special Issue - Multi-Ethnic American Graphic Narrative
   
In his book REINVENTING COMICS, Scott McCloud explores some of the problems
concerning ethnicity and comics. Not only does he argue for an increased
awareness of ethnic and gender representation in contemporary comics, but he

also highlights many of the ethnoracial concerns underlying the history of
comics in the United States. Using McCloud's arguments as a springboard,
MELUS plans on publishing a special issue devoted to multi-ethnic American
graphic narrative. The scope of this issue could include the theoretical,
literary, and historical sweep of graphic narrative and its links to
multi-ethnic discourse. Possible topics could include, but are certainly
not limited to:

* The evolution of ethnic representation in comics since the 1980s
(presented through the work of such artists as Gilbert and Jamie Hernandez,
Adrian Tomine, Art Spiegelman, Ben Katchor, Kyle Baker, Ho Che Anderson,
Howard Cruise, and R. Kikuo Johnson)
* The coinage of "graphic novel" (by Will Eisner) as a literary form and its

links to multi-ethnic expression
* The growth of graphic novels as a vehicle of American ethnic expression
in the wake of Art Spiegleman's groundbreaking MAUS
* The ways in which recent films have adapted comic-inspired figures to
explore the ethnic other
* The impact of Japanese Magna on American comics and culture
 Problems of ethnoracial representation in the underground comix of the
1960s
* The uses of classic superheroes, historic and contemporary, as images of
the ethnic outsider
* Comic journalism, such as that found in the work of Joe Sacco, as a
medium to explore ethnoracial conflicts
* Tropes of the monster, mutant, or zombie as a figuration of "the alien"
* Graphic narratives of the U.S. border, both in south (e.g., the work of
Los Bros Hernandez) and in the Canadian north (e.g, the comic art of Seth,
Julie Douchet, Ho Che Anderson, and Chester Brown)
* The cross-fertilization of comics and more traditional fictional
narrative (such as that surrounding Michael Chabon's character, The
Escapist)
   
All essay submissions should be between 5,000 and 7,500 words, including
notes and works cited. Contributors should format submissions based on the
MLA Style Manual, 2nd edition. Manuscripts emailed as attached MS Word files

are strongly encouraged. If mailed, please send along a SASE if requesting
return of copies.
   
Please address all manuscripts for and queries about this special issue to:
Derek P. Royal
Department of Literature and Languages
Texas A&M University-Commerce
Commerce, Texas 75429-3011
E-mail: Derek_Royal_at_tamu-commerce.edu
Fax: 903-886-5980

Deadline for final submissions is July 15, 2006

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Received on Mon May 08 2006 - 08:43:01 EDT