CFP

Edited Collection:  Magic, Horror, and the Reproductive Body in Popular Culture

Monstrous mothers have been a pop culture staple since Beowulf and remain a perennial concern of the Gothic, horror, and its scholarship to this day. In this volume, we move beyond fantastical motherhood to interrogate the politics of birth and reproduction in all its forms precisely at the intersection of magic and horror. Taking our cues from the AHSN 2023 symposium ‘Magic and Horror’ we are seeking proposals for chapters of 4000 to 7000 words for a collected edition to be published with the Routledge Advances in Popular Culture series (series editor Prof. Piatti-Farnell). Contributions should examine combinations of reproduction, magic, and horror in a range of mediums. ‘Magic’ may be understood broadly as is appropriate to the relevant cultural context but might include spells, enchantment, voodoo, ritual, superpowers, and even fantastic technologies.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

-        Biopower and the politics of reproduction

-        Reproductive futurity

-        Birth rates and (dis)enchanting childhoods

-        Superheroes, superpowers, and abject motherhood

-        Witch mothers

-        Reproduction and immortality: the moral imperative of death

-        Horror and deviant babies

-        Medical intervention and the birthing body

-        Recounting maternal discourse in popular culture: missed chances?

-        Necropolitics

Please send enquiries and abstracts (300 words) by March 2024 to collection editor Dr. Barratt-Peacock (University of Huddersfield) at: rbarrattpeacock@gmail.com