Monsters

5th Global Conference
Monsters and the Monstrous:
Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil

Monday 17th September - Thursday 20th September 2007
Mansfield College, Oxford, United Kingdom

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 will be considered on any related theme. 300 word abstracts
should be submitted by Friday 11th May 2007. If your paper is accepted
for presentation at the conference, an 8 page draft paper should be
submitted by Friday 24th August 2007.

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
E-Mail: monsters5@wickedness.net

Stephen Morris
Independent Scholar
New York, USA
USA
E-mail: 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. Three ISBN eBooks and three
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/M5/cfp.html