Werner Herzog, Film Director: A Multidisciplinary Collection
CFP: Werner Herzog, Film Director:
A Multidisciplinary Collection
Proposals due December 31, 2024
OVERVIEW:
Werner Herzog (b. 1942) has long been a keen and powerful observer of life on this planet. Now in his 80s, he is still going strong as an acclaimed director, writer, and producer of dramas, documentaries, and the stage; as a social and historical commentator, an actor (he recently played The Client in The Mandalorian, 2019), and a memoir writer (Every Man for Himself and God against All, 2023). As anyone interested in this CFP will know, Herzog is a titanic cultural force unto himself, and has been for decades now. Indeed, it is easy to see he has led overlapping (semi-)popular and arthouse/cult-style careers. Through his endlessly curious and skeptical eye, he has touched, and touched on, myriad aspects of our rapidly changing, contemporary society and our collective history that has brought us to our present moment.
There are many directions you could take your essay, but ultimately we are casting a wide, multidisciplinary net (cultural studies, film studies, gender, philosophy, literary studies, etc.) on his life and work as a film director, from his fiction to his documentaries. While Herzog is much too prolific for this book to systematically cover each and every one of his directed films, we do hope to have essays that span his directorial oeuvre in its myriad forms. Proposals that thematically unite two, or more, of his films would evoke special interest.
Some possible topics/directions/theories include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Fear of the other
- Love/gender & queer readings/sexuality
- Ecocriticism/Humans against or with nature/the environment
- Cultural studies/popular culture
- Class consciousness/socio-economic status
- Genre studies in film
- Irony/humor/satire
- Realism vs. fantasy
- Collaboration with one or more actors (esp. Klaus Kinski), professional or not
- War and rebellion
- Exploration/exploitation/colonialism
- Nihilism/Existentialism
- Philosophical approaches of all kinds
- Sound/use of music and the absence of music
- Anthropological themes
- Alienation/conformity vs. nonconformity
- Visual style/camera mechanics
- Herzog as auteur/Herzog as/against Hollywood director
- Influences/Influencing
- Public persona
- New German Cinema/French New Wave/Art House
- Improvisation
- Critic/colleague reception/reaction (e.g., Roger Ebert/François Truffaut, Wim Wenders)
- Mothers & Fathers/Sons & Daughters
- Europe vs. America (esp. Los Angeles)
- Rogue Film School
- Atheism vs. religion
Please do not send us a proposal on Stroszek (1977), as we will be co-writing an essay on this film for the collection.
All proposals (and later, essays) should be in English, with translations of German (or other) quotes, as needed.
We hope to include our proposed collection in the excellent Rowman & Littlefield’s “Critical Companion to Contemporary Directors” series (https://rowman.com/Action/SERIES/_/LEXCCD/Critical-Companions-to-Contemporary-Directors). As such, we suggest that you consider some of the entries in this series before sending us your proposal, for doing so will provide you with a better idea of the kind of book we hope to publish.
In short, you may consider any part of Herzog’s extensive directorial career for your essay. We are seeking 10 to 18 essays which, as a whole, will offer a breadth of coverage for his entire career as a director, even as each essay offers a focused, erudite, interesting argument about either a particular film or a theme found in/across his work. All essays should be written for an academic audience and should be between 6,000 and 7,000 words. Please use MLA style.
If interested, we would like to hear from you. Submission details below.
ABOUT US:
We are experienced academic writers and editors, and have co-edited multiple collections together, including:
Significant Food: Critical Readings to Nourish American Literature,
https://ugapress.org/book/9780820366715/significant-food/
American Writers in Exile,https://www.salempress.com/critical_insights_writers_exile;
Social Justice and American Literature, https://www.salempress.com/critical_insights_social_justice_american_lit;
European Writers in Exile,
https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498560245/European-Writers-in-Exile;
and, Connections and Influence in the Russian and American Short Story,
To contribute to this volume, please submit a 250-500 word abstract and a CV (abbreviated is fine) by September 30, 2024. Email MS Word documents to both of us (Jeff Birkenstein jeffrey.birkenstein@centralia.edu & Robert Hauhart rhauhart@stmartin.edu). Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions you might have in advance of the deadline. We thank you for your interesting ideas and look forward to hearing from you.
You will receive prompt confirmation of receipt.
Jeff Birkenstein
Centralia College (Washington, USA)
&
Robert Hauhart
Saint Martin's University (Washington, USA)