CFP: The Popular Culture Of Romantic Love In Australia

Laura Vivanco

Here's a very interesting call for papers from Hsu-Ming Teo, via PopCAANZ

I'm putting together an edited book on the theme of romantic love in popular culture. The aim of the book is to understand how Australians’ beliefs, ideals, and practices of romantic love have changed over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries — how we have written and spoken about being in love or falling out of love, and how these issues are related to dating, courtship, and long-term commitments such as cohabitation and marriage. This book asks: what kinds of popular cultural practices have facilitated or reflected ideas of romantic love to Australians?

Questions to be explored include (but are not limited to):

1. How has love been represented in:

• the media

• film

• television

• music

• popular literature

• graphic novels, comics, etc.

• What are the classic Australian love stories, and why?

2. How have dating and courtship changed over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries?

3. How have consumerism and advertising affected the idea and/or practice of romantic love?

4. How does popular culture facilitate the practice of romantic love?

• e.g. what kinds of ideas/beliefs/practices have developed around food and love?

• Is there a role for clothing/fashion in the practice or marketing of romantic love? etc.

5. Do developments in gender roles, multiculturalism, the sexualisation of popular culture, age, etc. affect ideas of romantic love?

The book will be an accessibly written trade book aimed at a non-specialist audience which I hope will be launched on Valentine’s Day 2013.

Deadlines are as follows:

• Abstract: 26 September 2011

• Final chapter (5-8000 words): 4 June 2012

Conferences: If people are interested and we can get enough papers together, I will organize panel sessions at:

• PopCAANZ conference 2012, Melbourne – dates tba

• PCA/ACA conference, Boston, 11-14 April 2012

• International Association for the Study of Popular Romance, 27-29 September 2011 [I think this may in fact refer to the 2012 IASPR conference]

If you are interested in submitting an abstract on any aspect of the popular culture of romantic love in Australia, can you please let me know so that I don’t go chasing other people for book chapters on that topic. Please email me as soon as possible at: hsuming.teo@mq.edu.au

With best wishes,

Dr Hsu-Ming Teo

The image came from Wikimedia Commons and was created by Andreyyshore.