NEW Deadline: Thursday, July 11, 2024 (Pete Murphy's B-Day!)

(Tentative) Conference Date(s): Friday August 16, 2024 

Format: Online (via Zoom, PST)

Abstract: 150 words + short biographical statement + time zone

Submit to: bld45conference@gmail.com

Contact for inquiries: Noah Gallego @noahrgallego@gmail.com, cc: Rachel Birke @ rbirk001@g.ucla.edu (Subject Line: BLD45 Conference)

"Undead, undead, undead"

45 years ago, in 1979, Bauhaus created an anthem for an entire subculture. This online conference, held on the 68th anniversary of the legendary Bela Lugosi’s death, invites scholars from all backgrounds to join in a critical celebration of the goth subculture and the music around which it orbits. We welcome papers that examine goth bands, classic and contemporary, their works (songs, albums, music videos, artwork), their legacies, cultural influences, etc. We also invite proposals that look at the intersections of goth subculture across different media and disciplines. We look forward to your contributions!

Topics include but are certainly not limited to:

Criticism: 

Gender, sexuality, queerness

Disability 

Monstrosity, Abjection, Abhumanity

Marxism

Race

Postcolonialism, Decoloniality, (Neo-)Orientalism

Religion, spirituality, the occult, theology 

Ecocriticism 

Nonhuman/Transhuman/Posthuman (Animals, cyborgs, A.I.)

Feminism 

Trauma

Rhetoric  

Corporeality

Indigeneity 

Philosophy

Intersections:

Goth and literary influences (intertexutality)

Goth and popular culture (film, television, comics)

Goth and/as performance (theatre, drag)

Goth and subculture studies

Goth and Internet culture 

Goth and fashion 

Goth and video games

Goth and anime/manga

Goth and comics

Goth and festival culture (concerts, goth nites, graves, dance)

Goth and musicology

Goth outside of the West 

Please send abstracts of 150 words to bld45conference@gmail.com, along with a short (~50-100 words) biographical statement and timezone in order to best approximate presentation times for speakers. (Papers should aim to be approximately 15-20 minutes in length).

The symposium will be held online over Zoom at no charge. (The link and schedule will be sent out a week before the symposium).

*NOTE ABOUT AUDIO: Because Zoom can sometimes compromise the efficacy of audio, we recommend to refrain from including live play from your presentations. We understand this may sound counterintuitive for a conference primarily about music but because we are working in a virtual environment where things are certain to go awry, we want to preemptively minimize any technical difficulties that may arise. We are, however, thinking of compiling a playlist for the conference that will feature all the acts and tracks presenters will discuss which will be released before the conference date in order to prime prospective audiences. We apologize for the inconvenience, but we appreciate your understanding.