Call for Chapters: Performance in the Gutter: Cultural Construction and the Graphic Novel

This special edited collection responds to the increasing interest in comics generated by readers and scholars in the last decade. From cartoons to graphic novels to manga—the variety of comics in combination with an awareness of their expressive potential has generated robust, critical conversations about how these forms work and contribute to our social, cultural, and political understanding.  

Focusing specifically on graphic novels, this anthology seeks chapters that provide insight about the intersection of comics and construction.  Submissions can position graphic novels as subject or object of the construction.  That is, authors might discuss the ways graphic novels—a hybrid medium both verbal and visual—script cultural, social, or political constructions; however, chapters might also address how those such discourse influences the graphic narrative. Other articles might address reciprocity between graphic novels, adaptations, fan fiction, or new technologies.

We welcome papers representing a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches.  Topics may include, but are not limited to examinations of graphic novels and

• representations of class, race, gender, age, or sexual orientation
• constructions of ethnicity, geography, culture
• the commodification
• cultural production/destruction
• the construction of the audience member
• fan activities and cultural practices
• the role of new media in creating, sustaining, or re-imagining graphic novels
• understanding the audience-authorship relationship
• adaptations and/or fan fiction

Our goal is to showcase the power and potential graphic narratives have for generating a critical understanding of the medium, but more importantly, we are interested essays that survey the impact graphic novel suggest for cultural meaning and understanding.

Please submit an abstract (250 words maximum) and a short biography (50 words maximum for consideration by December 1, 2017 to Leigh Anne Howard (lahoward@usi.edu) and Susanna Hoeness-Krupsaw (hoeness@usi.edu).  The editors will contact you concerning the status of your proposal no later than February 1, 2018. Completed chapters of no more than 6000-9000 words (including references and tables) should consist substantially of new material and original research.  Deadline for full papers will be June 15, 2018.   

This collection is not yet under contract.