brat and it’s a conference but it’s still brat

Deadline for submissions: December 2nd, 2024

Conference date/time: February 8th, 2025, UC Berkeley (will be in hybrid format).

Names and affiliations: Paz Regueiro and Cory Nguyen, Department of Comparative Literature

Contact emails: paz_regueiro@berkeley.edu and corytnguyen@berkeley.edu 

“You wanna guess if I'm serious about this song.”

- Charli xcx, 2024. (“Guess”, 17th track on “brat and it's the same but there's three more songs so it's not”.)

We do wanna guess. Charli xcx, otherwise known as English musician and it-girl Charlotte Aitchison, shook the world when she released her sixth studio album, “brat”, in the summer of 2024, termed “brat summer” from then on. Her album – combining influences across EDM, pop culture iconography, the London rave scene, and queer cultural aesthetics – was quickly picked up as the sound of the summer, echoing across pride parades, top charts, TikTok trends, and Spotify playlists. But while her bratty hyperpop beats echoed across the globe, “brat” fundamentally altered the sociopolitical landscape at a crucial point in history, as it was appropriated as branding by the likes of NATO and Deutsche Bank – and perhaps most saliently, as a controversial selling point for the ill-fated Harris/Walz campaign. “brat” holds unprecedented cultural cachet, somehow situated between deep-night dance floors and wars of aggression. How did we get here? And what is the meaning of “brat” as a marker of this moment in world history? 

As an interdisciplinary conference, we invite applicants from all fields, perspectives, and disciplines to submit their ideas. Interested applicants may imply (but are not limited to): graduate researchers, faculty researchers, archivists, librarians, cultural commentators, nightlife icons, musicians and music producers, and anyone aspiring to assess the cultural moment that is “brat”. 

Topics may include, but are not limited to:

• The “brat summer” phenomenon

• Critical analyses and interpretations of “brat” lyrics, music videos, aesthetics, etc.

• Formalist analyses

• Cultural implications/”brat” politics

• Musicological analysis/comparative musicologies

• Comparative outlooks to “brat”

• “brat’s” intersections with: race, gender, sexuality, capitalism

• “brat” and the body the body in “brat”

• Poetics of “brat”

All paper and presentation proposals should include a 200-300 word abstract. We encourage applicants to send a brief bio along with their proposals. We expect submitted papers and presentations to vary in length and breadth, so all applicants are encouraged to specify the format and duration of their presentation. The deadline for submission is December 2, 2024; applicants will receive responses within a week. Please email all inquiries and application materials to paz_regueiro@berkeley.edu and corytnguyen@berkeley.edu. We look forward to receiving your submission!