CFP: Pop Enlightenments: The Eighteenth Century Now
Contemporary depictions of the long eighteenth century – whether drawn from historic sources or responding imaginatively to the era’s multifarious legacies – regularly captivate TV, film and theatre audiences and gamers alike. Increasingly, scholarly biographies provide the basis for big budget biopics, eighteenth-century narratives are adapted in new and experimental ways, objects from museum collections are replicated in cultures of fandom, and academics are invited onto sets as consultants. During a global moment in which the representation and deployment of history in the public sphere are subject to new and urgent scrutiny, we ask what function film, television, gaming, theatre and more can perform when depicting the eighteenth century in our modern world? Can such works speak to perceived eighteenth-century ideas and values and, simultaneously, the shifting paradigms of our own time? How, and why, should we engage?
Pop Enlightenments will bring together scholarly essays and interviews with creative industry professionals. Building on conversations begun in Emrys Jones’s Pop Enlightenments podcast, it takes a broad approach to explore how eighteenth-century forms and narratives are variously taken up, recycled and re-visioned in contemporary media. It asks which histories are being told and by whom.
We seek proposals for chapters from scholars, including early career researchers. Particular areas for analysis and discussion might include, but are not limited to:
- The eighteenth century’s imaginative currency in contemporary popular culture
- The representation (or misrepresentation) of historical crimes and traumas
- Intersections between eighteenth-century models of culture and our own
- Considerations of genre and audience expectation
- Contrasting international contexts for adaptation and re-creation
- Recent shifts in historiographical discourse, and industry responses to these
We welcome contributions discussing any cultural sources from the last twenty years. The list below, while not exhaustive, provides some examples of possible focus points.
Potential contributors are requested to send 300-word abstracts to emrys.jones@kcl.ac.uk and mp656@york.ac.uk by 17th June 2021.
Works of Interest
Television
Bridgerton
Outlander
Poldark
Harlots
The Great
Taboo
The Scandalous Lady W
Versailles
Turn: Washington’s Spies
Black Sails
Roots
Frontier
Catherine the Great
Banished
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
Film
Belle
Amazing Grace
The Favourite
Portrait of a Lady on Fire
Emma.
The Duchess
A Little Chaos
Marie Antoinette
Mary Shelley
Bright Star
Beauty and the Beast
Last of the Mohicans
The Patriot
Pirates of the Caribbean
Interview with a Vampire
Sleepy Hollow
John Adams
Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
The Royal Affair
Love and Friendship
Rob Roy
Lady J
Casanova
Theatre
The Madness of King George
Hamilton
Games
Assassin’s Creed III, IV, Rogue and Unity
The Council
Return of the Obra Dinn
We. The Revolution
Banner of the Maid