Disney and the Middle Ages

deadline for submissions: 
July 15, 2022
full name / name of organization: 
Christina M. Carlson, Mariah L. Cooper, and Joshua Parks

Call for Papers

 Edited Volume on Disney and the Middle Ages

 

We invite proposals for an edited collection of essays on medievalism in Disney media for Brepols’ new series Reinterpreting the Middle Ages: From Medieval to Neo. The Walt Disney Company's films, theme parks, and merchandise are full of people, places, and things coded as “medieval,” and because Disney's medievalism is often coded as white and Christian, it is especially relevant to medieval studies' ongoing struggle with white supremacy within and outside the field.

 

We encourage authors to consider the role of the Walt Disney Company in shaping popular perceptions of the Middle Ages, as well as the function of medievalism in Disney’s ideological projects. How does Disney’s medievalist media represent gender, race, religion, disability, and other features of medieval life? What do those representations reveal about modern life as seen and shaped by Disney?

 

We welcome submissions from a wide variety of disciplines including literary studies, history, religious studies, gender studies, musicology, art history, and film studies. Critical perspectives such as ecocriticism, animal studies, queer theory, critical race studies, disability studies, material culture, and postcolonial theory are also encouraged. In addition, we welcome submissions from non-medievalist scholars with expertise in twentieth- and twenty-first-century media and culture. 

 

Proposals of 300 to 500 words should be submitted by email to disneymedievalvolume@gmail.com by Friday July 15, 2022. We aim to notify authors about accepted submissions by September 1, 2022. We have been invited to submit this collection for publication in Brepols’ new series Reinterpreting the Middle Ages: From Medieval to Neo.

 

Please write to the above email address with any questions, or contact Christina M. Carlson (cmcarlson@iona.edu), Mariah Cooper (mlcooper@mun.ca), and/or Joshua Parks (joshua.t.parks@gmail.com).

 
We look forward to hearing from you.