CFP FOGO 2023: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE FOLKLORE AND GOTHIC: SUPERNATURAL PRESENCES AND ENVIRONMENTS IN EUROPE AND THE AMERICAS

FOGO 2023: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

FOLKLORE AND GOTHIC: SUPERNATURAL PRESENCES AND ENVIRONMENTS IN EUROPE AND  THE AMERICAS

University of León (Spain), 5, 6 and 6 July 2023

Who has not felt fascinated by a terrifying image?

In the 21st century we are still haunted by ghosts from the past, scared by creaking floors in the middle of the night, afraid of monsters lurking in the shadows. We also face more tangible dangers: we have become collectively scared of the expansion of viruses and technological advancement, represented by zombies and the rebellion of the machines in the popular imagination from an Apocalyptic perspective. Similarly, there is a constant terror inspired by the sexual violence and the constant insecurity of women in public and private spaces. Women are, still today, afraid of violence in public and private spaces. These and other dangers have brought along the gothic appropriation of the witch as an empowering figure which, from ecofeminist practices, has been linked to the loss of natural spaces and the climate emergency.

Folklore and the Gothic share a common ground based on the experimentation of fear, both in the natural environment and in enclosed and claustrophobic spaces. In these manifestations, terror materializes as extraordinary entities (Bouyer 1985; Fontea, 2008; Montaner, 2014), which are deeply ingrained in the cultures and historical moments in which they appear. The concept folk horror, coined in the 1970s, defines the fear and terror experienced by local communities though ritual (Eamon Byers, 2014). The Gothic, on the other hand, has evolved since the writer Horace Walpole added this term as subtitle in The Castle of Otranto (1764). Since then, readers have engaged with tragic stories which repeat the same Gothic formula: the presence of the heroine, the villain, the landscape and an unresolved mystery. The presence of the Gothic in Postmodernity (Catherine Spooner, 2006; Maria Beville, 2009; Abigail Lee Six, 2010; William Hughes, 2012; Fred Botting, 2013; Maria Purves, 2014; Ann Davies, 2014) and its global scope (Byron 2013; Punter 2015) demonstrate its vitality and its ability to adapt to new realities. In the last decade, the study Ecogothic helps bring together ecocriticism and the Gothic, establishing a direct relationship between fear and the effects that humankind has on the environment (Smith and Hughes, 2013).

This conference aims to open a space of dialogue to analyze the intersections of Gothic and folklore, focusing on fairy tales, the representation of nature, and the treatment of horror. What is the relevance of the ghosts, cemeteries and stormy nights that remain in our subconscious as images and spaces of fear? How can fictional horror represent the climate emergency? How can we explore literature, film and other media through the lens of the monster and the ghost? Ultimately, what is the interaction between folklore, horror and the Gothic?

The conference FOLKLORE AND GOTHIC: SUPERNATURAL PRESENCES AND

ENVIRONMENTS IN EUROPE AND THE AMERICAS will be hosted by the University of León (Spain) on July 5, 6 and 7, 2023.

CALL FOR PAPERS AND SUBJECT AREAS

The organizing committee invites professors, academics, researchers, postgraduate students and artists to participate by sending proposals for presentations in the following formats:

• A single paper for a 15-20 minute presentation, summary of max. 300 words;
• A round table of 3-5 people for a 60-minute discussion, summary of max. 1000 words;
• A complete panel of 3-4 people for a 60-minute set of presentations, summary of max. 1000 words;
• Any other type of artistic format or workshop that touches on the topic of the conference and which can take place in under 90 minutes.

Please also include a brief summary (less than 100 words) or your academic CV.

You can send your proposals following this link before April 1st, 2023. Presentations can be in either English or Spanish.

Registration fees will be of 15 € for undergraduate students; 80 € for postgraduate students, instructors and researchers in training; and 100 € for lecturers, professors and salaried independent researchers. More information about payment methods will be given in due course.

The subject areas include, but are not limited to, the following: Horror and the Anthropocene

Cultural Studies

EcoGothic

Affect Theory and Horror

Gender Studies and Queer Gothic

Cinema Studies and Folk Horror

Medical Humanities and Mental Illness

Postcolonial Studies

Posthumanism and the Gothic

Digital Humanities

Bestiaries and the Preternatural

Children’s and Teen Gothic

PUBLICATION

Once finished the conference, the participants will be given the option to send an article based on their presentation for publication in a volume edited by a prestigious editorial house (still TBD). Each paper will be reviewed by an independent scientific committee.

The papers will comply with the editorial guidelines provided in advance, and sent before November 14^th, 2023.

INVITED SPEAKERS

Antonio Ballesteros González

Full Professor in the Department of Foreign Philologies and their Linguistics, UNED (Spain).

Sandra Casanova-Vizcaíno

Associate Professor in the Department of Romance Languages at Binghamton University (USA).

Ann Davies

Emeritus Professor at the University of Stirling (UK).

Irene Gómez-Castellano

Associate Professor in the Department of Romance Studies at the UNC Chapel Hill (USA).

Imelda Martín Junquera

Associate Professor in the Department of Modern Languages at the University of León.

DIRECTORS

Miriam López Santos (University of León) Inés Ordiz Alonso-Collada (UNED) Sandra García Gutiérrez (UNC Chapel Hill)

ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

María José Álvarez Maurín (University of León) María José Conde Guerri (University of León) Paula Fernández Chamorro (University of León) Noelia Gregorio Fernández (UNED) Alfred Michael Markey (University of León) Fco Javier Ordiz Vázquez (University of León) María Asunción Sánchez Manzano (University of León)

ACADEMIC COMMITTEE

Tony Alcalá (Tecnológico de Monterrey)

Xavier Aldana Reyes (Manchester Metropolitan University) Ilse Bussing (University of Costa Rica)

María Luzdivina Cuesta Torre (University of León) Megan DeVirgilis (Morgan State University)

Justin D. Edwards (University of Stirling)

Eva Lara Alberola (Catholic University of Valencia)

Alejandra Márquez (Michigan State University)

Imelda Martín Junquera (Universidad de León) Juan Matas Caballero (University of León) Francisca Noguerol (University of Salamanca) Nadina Olmedo (University of San Francisco)