CFP: Out of Print and Boys' Love

Out of Print: The Evolution of Twentieth-Century Writing

A one-day conference, funded by the Faculty of Humanities Graduate School Knowledge Exchange Grant and in association with CUE East, will be hosted by the School of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, on Friday 16th September 2011.

Rediscovery of neglected writing, the re-branding of second-hand books as desirable retro objects and an ever increasing plethora of film and television adaptations bring questions of the legacy and future of twentieth-century writing into ever-sharper focus. The conference aims to bring together postgraduates, academics and publishers to examine the wide variety of ways that writing comes to be ‘out of print’. The conference will explore all aspects of the theme to ask: Why are some writers neglected? How can we read the position and problem of writing that is no longer published? What is at stake during the movement from page to other mediums? With the dawn of the kindle, what about the materiality of books, journals, newspapers? Has the role of small imprints changed, and what are the implications of print on demand? What happens at the margins of the printed?

Call for Papers: We welcome papers that engage with any aspect of the theme ‘out of print’. Topics may include, but are not limited to:
- Neglected or forgotten authors who are either no longer published or who have been brought back into print.
- Questions of reputation, gender, language and translation that might affect printed status.
- Spaces between ‘high’ and ‘low’, academic and popular, short story and novel.
- How print responds to demand: the role of reader, publisher and media in reading trends and retro fashions.
- As block becomes laser: charting changes in what it means for something to be in print.
- The changing roles of small print runs, magazines and journal publication throughout the twentieth century.
- Notes in the margins: the place of libraries and archives in terms of access to writing that is out of print.
- From page to stage: out of print into film, television, theatre, radio.

You are invited to submit 300 word abstracts for papers of 20 minutes to info@outofprintconference.co.uk by Thursday 30 June 2011. More details here.

TWC (Transformative Works and Cultures) Special Issue CFP: Transnational Boys’ Love Fan Studies (March 2013)

Edited by Kazumi Nagaike and Katsuhiko Suganuma, Oita University

‘BL’ (Boys’ Love), a genre of male homosexual narratives (consisting of manga, novels, animations, games, films, and so forth) written by and for women, has recently been acknowledged, by Japanese and non-Japanese scholars alike, as a significant component of Japanese popular culture. The aesthetic and style of Japanese BL have also been assumed, deployed and transformed by female fans transnationally. The current thrust of transnational BL practices raises a number of important issues relating to socio/cultural constructs of BL localization and globalization.

Scholarly endeavors in relation to BL can be enriched by further research concerning the activities of transnational BL fans, fan communities, fandom, and the production of fan fiction. Most previous BL fan studies have remained circumscribed to Japan and North America. Therefore, in order to further develop transnational BL fan studies, we are seeking contributors who are engaged in the exploration of non-Japanese and non-North American contexts (e.g. Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, Africa, and others). Transnational BL fan studies may also be incorporated into the broader socio/political critical frameworks offered by studies in economics, gender/sexuality, race/class, and other areas.

We welcome submissions dealing with, but not limited to, the following topics:

• Case-studies and ethnographic examinations of BL fans, specifically examining fans’ sex/gender, age, occupation, class, race/ethnicity, et cetera.
• Local ethnographies relating to BL fans’ production, distribution, and use of these materials. Discussions concerning the ways in which broadly framed socio/political issues or forms of consciousness (e.g. gender/sexuality formations, authorities’ interference, censorship, and so forth) impact fans’ BL activities.
• Media and social responses to fans’ involvement in BL activities.
• Commercial aspects of BL and fans’ contribution to the development of BL economics.
• The integration of research on BL fans into a wider discussion of social theory, differing cultural discourses, and globalization.
• Discussions concerning the ways in which BL fans’ forms of production, distribution, and consumption might challenge traditional notions of Author, Reader, and Text.
• Theoretical overviews reflecting traditional/contemporary ideas of fandom, fans, fan communities, and fans’ means of communications, demonstrating how these ideas specifically relate to BL fans.
• Explorations of the ways in which BL participants are motivated to become involved in other fan-oriented activities (e.g. cosplay; female fans’ cross-dressing as male BL characters).

More information here and here.