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Drawing on the Past: the pre-modern world in comics
September 10, 2018 - September 11, 2018
We invite abstracts for papers, posters and interactive workshops on any aspect of comics set in the pre-modern world to be presented at a two-day conference at Senate House in London on 10-11th September 2018.
Our brief has a broad chronological and geographical scope, from the Bronze Age onwards, including but not limited to Greece, Rome, Egypt, Near East, Ancient Norse, Mesoamerica etc. The concept of comics itself is similarly broadly interpreted, covering different traditions including but not limited to the American graphic novel, the Franco-Belgian tradition, and Japanese manga. Contributions may focus on series as well as on individual episodes, including those from series that do not consistently engage with the pre-modern world.
We hope to capture a wide variety of experiences of comics and the pre-modern world, so the conference will be aimed at academics (PGR, ECR and established), teachers, and artists. Suitable topics for discussion might include:
- how and why writers and illustrators engage with these periods and cultures in comics;
- literary, historical or archaeological analysis of comics, for example: accuracy of representation and poetic licence; engagement with sources; cultural fusions; allegorical uses; connections to modern nationalistic histories;
- use as pedagogical tools in the classroom (including translations of comics into Latin or Ancient Greek);
- comics as methods for communicating historical research of the pre-modern world.
Papers should be 20 minutes each; workshops no more than 1 ½ hours; posters can be A1 or A2 size. Please submit 300-word abstracts or 500-word workshop proposals to leen.vanbroeck.2014@live.rhul.ac.uk by 22 December 2017. Notifications of acceptance will be sent out no later than 31 January 2018.
Organisers: Leen Van Broeck, Royal Holloway; Dr Zena Kamash, Royal Holloway; Dr Katy Soar, University of Winchester. This conference is made possible with the generous assistance of the Institute of Classical Studies, School of Advanced Studies, University of London.