Monday 9th May - Wednesday 11th May 2005
Budapest, Hungary

Call for Papers

This inter-disciplinary and multi-disciplinary conference seeks to investigate and explore the enduring influence and imagery of monsters and the monstrous on human culture throughout history. In particular, the project will have a dual focus with the intention of examining specific 'monsters' as well as assessing the role, function and consequences of persons, actions or events identified as 'monstrous'. The history and contemporary cultural influences of monsters and monstrous metaphors will also be examined.

Perspectives are sought from those engaged in the fields of literature, media studies, cultural studies, history, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, health and theology. Ideas are welcomed from those involved in academic study, fictional explorations, and applied areas (e.g. youth work, criminology and medicine).

Papers, reports, work-in-progress and workshops are invited on issues related to any of the following themes:

• The "monster" through history
• Civilization, monsters and the monstrous
• Children, childhood, stories and monsters; monsters and parents
• Comedy: funny monsters and/or making fun of monsters (e.g. Monsters Inc, the Addams Family)
• Making monsters; monstrous births
• Mutants and mutations
• Technologies of the monstrous
• Horror, fear and scare
• Do monsters kill because they are monstrous or are they monstrous because they kill?
• How critical to the definition of "monster" is death or the threat of death?
• human 'monsters' and 'monstrous' acts? e.g, perverts, paedophiles and serial killers
• the monstrous and gender
• Revolution and monsters; the monstrous and politics; enemies (political/social/military) and monsters
• Iconography of the monstrous
• The popularity of the modern monsters; the Mummy, Dracula, Frankenstein, Vampires
• The monster in literature
• the monstrous in popular culture: film, television, theatre, radio, print, internet. The monstrous and journalism
• Religious depictions of the monstrous; the monstrous and the supernatural
• Metaphors and the monstrous
• the monstrous and war, war reportage / propaganda

Papers will also be accepted which deal solely with specific monsters.

Papers are also solicited for special sessions which will be held in common with a second research project running at the same time entitled 'The Erotic - Exploring Critical Issues'. Papers dealing with themes of monsters, horror, sexuality and the erotic are encouraged across all disciplines and areas; indicative examples could include 'monstrous sexualities' (bestiality, paedophilia), or the eroticisation of the monster in horror genres (Dracula, for example), or the representation of the erotic and sex as horrible and/or demonic.

Papers will be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts should be submitted by Friday 28th January 2005. If your paper is accepted for presentation at the conference, an 8 page draft paper should be submitted by Friday 15th April 2005.

300 word abstracts should be submitted to both the Organising Joint Chairs; abstracts may be in Word, WordPerfect, PDF or RTF formats.

Rob Fisher
Wickedness Net
Freeland, Oxfordshire
United Kingdom
email: theodicist@wickedness.net

Stephen Morris
Independent Scholar
New York, USA
USA
email: smmorris58@yahoo.com

The conference is part of a larger series of ongoing conferences entitled At the Interface, and run as a project under the auspices of Wickedness.Net. It aims to bring together people from different areas and interests to share ideas and explore various discussions which are innovative and exciting.

All papers accepted for and presented at the conference will be published as an ISBN eBook. Selected papers accepted for and presented at this conference will be published in a hard copy themed volume. An eBook and two themed volumes are available and/or in press from previous meetings of this project.

For further details about the project please visit:
http://www.wickedness.net/Monsters/monsters.htm

For further details about the conference please visit:
http://www.wickedness.net/Monsters/M3/m3cfp.htm