Copied from:
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/for-authors/call-for-papers#monstersMonsters: interdisciplinary explorations of monstrosity
Editors: Dr Sibylle Erle (Reader in English Literature), Dr Pat Beckley (Senior Lecturer in the School of Teacher Development) and Dr Helen Hendry (Senior Lecturer in Education Studies, Bishop Grosseteste University, Lincoln, UK)
There is a continued fascination with all things monsters, which is partly due to the critical and popular reception of Mary Shelley’s creature termed a “new species” by its ambitious and over-reading creator. Frankenstein regards himself a scientist, but his creature’s existence is bodged from the start. The aim of this ‘Monsters’ collection of articles is therefore to examine the legacy of Shelley’s novel as well as the different incarnations of monsters in contemporary research and teaching contexts. Attempting to explain the appeal of Shelley’s story, this collection offers a unique opportunity to promote dialogue between the social sciences and the humanities.
The title of this collection is deliberately left ambiguous to allow for an interdisciplinary exploration of ‘monstrosity’ and ‘the monstrous’. These concepts apply, in the first instance, to social and cultural threats — that is, to behaviours or (visual) qualities, which are deemed unacceptable because they are perceived as either amoral or unimaginable. The afterlife and reception of Frankenstein not only brings many opportunities for academic research to intersect with popular culture, but also brings into focus the pertinent theoretical and methodological challenges relating to how ‘monstrosity’ and ‘the monstrous’ get taught at universities and at schools.
Against the backdrop, we invite papers that explore the concepts of monsters, monstrosity and the monstrous. Contributions are welcomed on, but are not restricted to, the following themes:
Gothic studies;
Reception studies (the afterlife of Frankenstein);
Monsters’ as a metaphor (monstrosity, the monstrous);
Monsters in literature written for children and/or young adults;
Monsters in visual culture and performance art;
Horror movies for adults and/or for children and/or young adults;
The post-human, technology and robot-human interactions;
Disability studies;
Wellbeing;
Monsters’ in teaching contexts;
Popular culture.
Research is invited from the humanities (literature, drama, art, history) and the social sciences (education and teacher training studies, psychology, counselling studies), as well as interdisciplinary scholarship.
This is a rolling article collection and as such submissions will be welcomed at any point up until the end of November 2019. To register interest prospective authors should submit a short article proposal (abstract summary) to the Editorial Office (
palcomms@palgrave.com) in the first instance.
Additional submission guidelines can be found here:
https://www.nature.com/palcomms/for-authors/submission-guidelines
