CFP: The Monster Child

The Monster Child: New Essays on Children, Horror and Monstrosity in Film

A call for papers for a proposed collection co-edited by Markus Bohlmann and Sean Moreland

As an area of research which has to date gone largely unexplored, the many variations on the image of the child-as-monster in global popular cinema invite critical consideration through a variety of theoretical approaches.

We are soliciting abstract submissions for a collection of original essays which explore various critical themes and theoretical angles related to "monstrous" children in film, a topic which has to date been paid too little attention, not only within the field of childhood studies, but also those of film and horror studies.

We welcome approaches including, but not limited to, the following:

- childhood and youth studies

- horror/gothic studies

- queer studies

- gender studies

- postcolonial studies

- narrative studies

- psychological/psychoanalytic studies

- film studies

- family structures

- camp studies

- sexuality studies

- closet-structures

- Approaches inspired by Deleuze/Guattari, Lacan, Sedgwick, Foucault, Zizek, 

  Powell, Kincaid, Stockton, Edelman.

We invite considerations of films that situate themselves in terms of the horror genre (for example, The Exorcist, The Unborn, The Bad Seed, Village of the Damned, The Brood, It's Alive, Grace, Children of the Corn, Interview with the Vampire, Let the Right One In, The Pit, The Orphan, Phenomenon (aka Creepers), Twitch of the Death Nerve (aka Bay of Blood), but also films that court other genres and styles which feature some variation on the theme of the child-as-monster.

Even in films where the monster-child may appear in a minute role, its presence can radically change the effects of a cinematic text, lending itself to a unique opportunity for exploration and investigation into a wide array of interconnecting domains.

Contributors are invited to submit an abstract (250-500 words), current contact info and brief bio (or CV) as attachments (doc, docx, or rtf files) by no later than October 31, 2012 to: monstrouschildren@gmail.com. Please include “abstract submission” and the title of your abstract in the subject line.

Sean Moreland earned his PhD at the University of Ottawa, where he teaches sessionally.  His research interests include 19th and 20th century American literature, Gothic and horror fiction and film, and psychological theory and criticism. He has written a number of recent articles on contemporary American, Canadian and Indian horror films. He is co-editor of the volume Fear and Learning: Essays on the Pedagogy of Horror (McFarland, 2012) and is also in the early stages of co-editing a volume on horror and diaspora.

Markus Bohlmann is a PhD candidate at the University of Ottawa, where he also teaches. His doctoral thesis examines the Deleuzian contours of "the child" in 21st century American literature and film. His research interests include Deleuze studies, childhood studies, queer studies, and sexuality studies.