Call for Papers: Popular Entertainments Working ,Group

Call for Papers: Popular Entertainments Working Group

The Working Group has been in existence since 2006 and has drawn together scholars worldwide in its pursuit of the debates and practices which have informed the study of popular entertainments. The Working Group has been instrumental in its support of two international conferences (in 2009 and 2013) and the publication of the international peer-reviewed online journal, Popular Entertainment Studies. To obtain a feel of the range of interests reflected in the papers presented to the Working Group, please visit our site accessible through the IFTR home page and our journal at www.newcastle.edu.au/journal/popular-entertainment-studies.

Popular entertainments are transnational and are part of the fabric of our daily lives. We are constantly exposed to them through media such as the theatre, television and film. Yet they function outside the theatre as well and provide a voice for the aspirations and concerns of our various communities. They have a long history and by nature they are transgressive in that they resist any attempts at stratification, the subject of the 2014 World Congress. At the same time, they are multi-layered and protean in their forms and, we believe, demand a continuing scholarly investigation.

We invite scholars and scholar-practitioners to join the Working Group and to offer a paper at the forthcoming conference. Topics might include historical accounts of popular entertainments, contemporary manifestations inside and outside the theatre, the aesthetic and ideological structures which support or attempt to undermine popular entertainments, their role as community expressions and the enduring significance of the performer in those domains. This, however, is merely the tip of a very substantial iceberg and we welcome suggestions that might enrich our ongoing discussions.

In the first instance, please send an expression of interest to the convenor, Victor Emeljanow (Victor.Emeljanow@newcastle.edu.au) as soon as possible. You should note that abstracts should be no longer than 200 words and that the deadline for their submission is January 15, 2014. They should be submitted online via the abstract submission page: http://journals.cambridge.org/action/memServHome?name=IFTR.