November 29-30, 2016

http://www.feastingonhannibal.com

Keynote Speakers:

Associate Professor Jane Stadler, The University of Queensland

Professor Angela Ndalianis, The University of Melbourne

CALL FOR PAPERS - DEADLINE EXTENDED 

Hannibal ‘the Cannibal’ Lecter is one of contemporary popular culture’s most prominent and recognisable models of monstrosity. Initially conceived in the 1981-2006 novel series by Thomas Harris, Hannibal exists at the centre of a sprawling franchise that includes the critically acclaimed film, The Silence of the Lambs (Jonathan Demme, 1991), and most recently Bryan Fuller’s television series Hannibal (2013-2015). The diverse texts that constitute the Hannibal franchise demonstrate the fertile potential of the Hannibal mythology to extend and develop across multiple media, and the complexity of Hannibal himself as a boundary-defying figure of modern monstrosity and the senses. At the centre of Hannibal’s monstrosity is a breakdown of the boundaries between high and low art, the mythic and the everyday, and refinement and savagery. Accordingly, critical interest in the Hannibal franchise has focused on Hannibal’s embodiment of the boundary transgressions central to scholarly understandings of monstrosity.

Critical analyses of the books and films have been both profound and widespread across various disciplines. More recently, Fuller’s Hannibal has not only redefined what came before, but has inspired, extended and renewed interest in this seminal figure. The “Feasting on Hannibal” conference aims to push the boundaries of previous conceptualisations of the Hannibal series, while reflecting on how the television show has reframed the culture of Hannibal. This conference looks to the future of the franchise as a continually developing and mutating mythology, welcoming papers that examine Hannibal across any of his multiple incarnations, but especially considering how Hannibal mythology has been reformulated and extended since Fuller’s television series.

Screen Studies and the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne invite you to submit abstract proposals for an interdisciplinary conference feast that turns the tables on Hannibal Lecter, offering Hannibal up for a meal of multiple courses and scholarly cuisines.

Topics might include, but are not limited to:

Hannibal’s influence on screen culture

Hannibal as embodiment of contemporary monstrosity

Hannibal and the sensorium

Hannibal as mythology

Aesthetics and affect in Hannibal

Hannibal as a franchise property

Hannibal, seriality and transmedia storytelling

Self-reflexivity and intertextuality in Hannibal

Hannibal and adaptation

Hannibal and genre

High-concept television

High art and elite tastes

The aesthetics of violence

Hannibal and fandom

The culture of food in Hannibal

Hannibal, cannibalism, food, and body horror

Representations of animality and the post human in Hannibal

Criminal monstrosity and moral panic

Depictions of psychology and emotions

The development of gender and sexuality in the Hannibal mythology

The music of Hannibal and Hannibal’s music

Submit queries and abstracts up to 300 words length, as well as a short bio, before 30th of June (deadline extended) to hannifeast@gmail.com.

For selected overseas presenters unable to travel to the University of Melbourne, the option of a videoconference presentation may be pursued. Please contact the organisers for further details about this option.

Organised by: Dr Jessica Balanzategui, Dr Naja Later, and Tara Lomax