Panel II: German Comics: The Trouble with Graphic Novels.
The genre trouble between comic and graphic novels is exacerbated at times by the way German culture is (or is not) inscribed and acknowledged in the reception of such texts. What are the markers of German Comics, and are they drawn, written, and received via an audience shaped in German comic traditions? If so, what are the trajectories and intersections with French/Belgian bande dessinée, American and British comics/graphic novels, or Japanese comics/graphic novels?
Panel III: Weimar Cinema and Popular Culture: Zombies, Vampires and Robots (from the Future?)
The Weimar Republic was a fecund period of cultural production, and in many ways still speaks to a contemporary (North) American sensibility. What are the Weimar influences on popular culture, particularly in terms of film, and the zombies, vampires and robots in the futuristic, expressionistic vein of film and other media? What is the relation, or is there one, between modern-day German representations to North American audiences, particularly of the zombies, vampires and robots? Do the walkers from “The Walking Dead” translate into German culture? How so? Which cultural dead (Germans?) have been revived by this contemporary fascination with the undead?
Panel IV: Lacunae of German Studies and Germanistik: Environmentalism, Disability, and Beyond
The distance between Germanistik and German Studies is well-known and much-lamented. There are several candidates that gesture toward this divide that receive minor shrift in North American German Studies, despite receiving considerable attention in Germany. Take for instance Disability Studies, or environmentalism, which is such an important topic in Germany. Is German Studies unable to give proper attention to certain fields? What are these fields, and what are the causes of their neglect? How do we assure they find a place within German Studies? Conversely, what does Germanistik neglect and on which North American German Studies sheds light?
Note: Papers not focused on these topics, but dealing with other areas or aspects of German Literature and Culture, will also be considered.
Submission information: Please submit your 200-300 word abstract/proposal through the PCA database, http://ncp.pcaaca.org/ (which does not open until July 1) to the German Literature and Culture area. PCA requires proposals be submitted to only one subject area at a time. You must include your name, email address, and (if applicable) your academic affiliation on the site. Otherwise we might not be able to contact you.
The deadline for paper/presentation proposals is October 1, 2016. The conference takes place from April 11-15, 2017, in San Diego, California
If you have any inquiries or further questions about the German Literature and Culture Area at the PCA/ACA national conference, please contact: Claude Desmarais, German Literature and Culture Area Chair, at claude.desmarais@ubc.ca.