The German tradition of Bildung and the disciplinary practice of German Literature (Germanistik) have long marginalized the study of any kind of literature which did not fall into the canon of high culture. Even today, when the examination of non-canonical texts is well established and uncontroversial in other academic contexts, such texts remain under-studied in German. This is particularly true of genre fiction.

The editors of this proposed volume seek to address this relative lack of academic scrutiny and to contribute to the larger project of the interdisciplinary study of popular culture within German Studies. We are soliciting new research on all forms of German-language genre fiction including (but not limited to) detective fiction, science fiction, romance and westerns. Completed essays should be 15-25 double-spaced pages in length, with the usual academic apparatus, and should include a separate bibliography.

Prospective contributors should please send a 1-2 page proposal and a c.v. to the editors:
Vibeke R. Petersen, Professor of Women's Studies, Dept. for the Study of Culture and Society, Drake University (v.petersen@mchsi.com)

Alison Guenther-Pal, Postdoctoral Fellow in German and Film Studies, Lawrence University (guenthea@lawrence.edu)

Bruce Campbell, Associate Professor of German Studies, The College of William & Mary (bbcamp@wm.edu).
The deadline for proposals is April 15, 2008. Proposals should be sent as .rtf, .doc or .wpd files.