Final Call For Papers for Brisbance Romance Conference

POPULAR ROMANCE STUDIES
An International Conference
August 13-14, 2009
Brisbane, Australia

Sponsored by
The International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR)
University of Queensland
Queensland University of Technology
Romance Writers of America

For decades, scholars have studied popular romance, whether in romance novels, films, comics, or other media. They have studied its sexual politics and aesthetic structures, its audiences, its authors, and the industry that produces and distributes it world-wide. For the most part, however, they have done so in isolation, divided by boundaries of nation, genre, and academic discipline.

On August 13-14, 2009, the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology will host “Popular Romance Studies: an International Conference,” to be held in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Romance Writers of Australia. Scholars from Australia, the United States, and elsewhere will convene for this event, which will take place on the QUT campus (Thursday) and at the University of Queensland’s Fryer Library, home to a remarkable archival collection of Australian romance materials.

We are interested in papers on romantic love in the popular media (print, film, music, etc.), now or in the past, anywhere in the world. Topics addressed might include:

• Romance on the World Stage (texts in translation, romance manga, romantic films in Western, Indian, and Far Eastern traditions, non-Western writers, readers, texts, and publishers of romance fiction)
• National romance traditions and the impact of global publishing
• The romance industry (print, film, electronic, other)
• Romance between media: crossover texts and the relationships between romance fiction and romantic films, music, art, drama, etc.
• Romance high and low: texts that fall between “high” and “low” culture, or that complicate the distinctions between these critical categories
• Romance then and now: ancient, Renaissance, modern, postmodern love
• Romance in marketing; the Business of Love
• Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Romance, and same-sex love within predominantly heterosexual texts
• Romance communities: authors, readers, websites, blogs
• Theoretical models for, or approaches to, popular romance

We note that 2009 marks the 90th anniversary of E.M. Hull’s novel The Sheik (the film dates from two years later), the 70th anniversary of the film version of Gone With the Wind, and the 10th anniversary of Paperback Hero, the Australian film in which Hugh Jackman plays a truck driver turned romance novelist. Papers related to any of these subjects are particularly welcome.

Submit a one-page (150-250 word) proposal or abstract no later than May 30, 2009 to the conference organizers; email is preferred. Early proposals will receive an early response, in order to facilitate travel plans and travel funding requests. A small amount of travel funding for full-time U.S. faculty has been made available by the Romance Writers of America; please mention your interest in your proposal.

IASPR welcomes proposals from independent scholars, and from romance authors, editors, and publishers, as well as from those with academic affiliation.


Proposals and questions should be sent to:

Dr Toni Johnson-Woods,
English, Media Studies and Art History,
University of Queensland
St Lucia Q 4072 AUSTRALIA
T: (+ 61 7) 3381 1572
F: (+ 61 7) 3381 1565
E: t.johnsonwoods@uq.edu.au

Dr Glen Thomas
Creative Writing and Cultural Studies
Creative Industries Faculty
Queensland University of Technology
Victoria Park Road
Kelvin Grove, Q. 4059.
T: (+ 61 7) 3138 8284
F: (+61 7) 3138 8238
M: 0412 232 163
E: gj.thomas@qut.edu.au

Prof. Eric Murphy Selinger
Dept. of English
DePaul Univ.
802 West Belden Ave.
Chicago, IL 60614
773-325-4475
eselinge@depaul.edu