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This anthology, which will be published by Edwin Mellen Press in 2009, seeks to break new ground in the field of adaptation studies, specifically, as a branch of American Studies that not only encompasses literature and visual media, but also a wide-range of subject areas including, but not limited to, history, anthropology, political science, philosophy, sociology, the performing arts, and cultural/ethnic studies. By looking at adaptation specifically in relation to the United States, we seek to investigate a variety of culturally and historically transformative strategies. We also seek to examine how the process of adaptation has been influenced by social, ideological and political factors both inside and outside the United States.
While, traditionally, adaptation refers to the transformation of literary texts into different forms of media (e.g., films and television programs), the concept of adaptation can also be applied to other disciplines. Historians engage in process of negotiating or adapting various histories, or dialogues, when they tell the story of a nation; politicians adapt/adopt different philosophies, at different times, to suit their particular interests; and artists and musicians adapt/adopt a broad range of cultural signifiers when creating new works, conventions, and/or trends.
The editors of Adapting America/America Adapted invite full-length anthology chapters that consider adaptation, broadly conceived. We particularly encourage chapters which incorporate transdisciplinary explorations of adaptation, and welcome submissions from any field of study. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Processes/purposes of adaptation
Adaptation and its motives (e.g., intentionality)
Adapting history for political reasons/historical
reinvention
Popular history: creation and reception
Foreign policy and adaptation
Audience and adaptation
Trans or intercultural adaptation
Cultural outcomes/products of adaptation (hybridity,
creolization, metissage, mestizaje)
Racial adaptation (passing)
Musical adaptation (e.g., sampling in rap music)
Artistic adaptation
Cross-cultural adaptation (e.g., African elements in
American Jazz/Blues)
Lingual adaptation (e.g., ebonics)
Transformation/transmutation of ideas
(Re)creation/simulacra
Mimicry, authenticity, and adaptation
Forced adaptation (e.g., colonization, imperialism)
Americanization, assimilation, acculturation
Indigenous adaptation
Identity and adaptation
The appeal/limits of adaptation
Sex/gender adaptation (e.g., transvestitism,
berdachism)
Conscious adaptation (e.g., metafiction)
Self-writing (e.g., transforming personal
experiences into literature)
Bodily adaptations
Biopics
Pastiches/parodies/satire
Literature/film adaptation
Video/board games and popular songs based on classic
films and/or literary texts
Architectural adaptation
Semiotics of adaptation
Psychological/emotional adaptation
Pedagogical applications of adaptation
All chapters must adhere to the MLA style and be a minimum of 5,000 words (max. 6,000 words). Submissions should be sent to Drs. Laurence Raw, Tanfer Emin Tunc and Gulriz Buken via email: adaptingamerica@gmail.com
We also request a one paragraph biography from each author. Please keep the following timeline in mind when submitting a chapter:
Final deadline for submission of chapters: December
31, 2008
Notification of acceptance: January 31, 2009
Due date of revised chapter: March 15, 2009
Due date of final chapter: April 1, 2009
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