Transitions 9 Programme
Transitions 9: New Directions in Comics Studies 8-10 April 2021 Programme (Time zone: BST/UTC+1) THURSDAY 8 April 2021 15:00 – 15:15 Welcome 15:15 – 16:45 Panel 1 1.1: Periodicals 1.2: Bodies Sara Dallavalle Comics Magazines: Not only Comics but also Criticism Jonathan Bass The Rube Goldberg Case: The Panel as Paradigm in Newspaper Comics and New York Dada Kristian Hellesund Migration in Three Early American Newspaper Comics Jose L Garcia Politics of Body Prostheses, Disability, and Replacement in Aaron Diaz’s Dresden Codak Sharmistha Chatterjee Examining the Diseased Material Body in Stitches Eszter Szép Drawing and Transforming the Body in Ken Dahl’s Monsters 16:45 – 17:00 Break 17:00 – 18:15 Keynote Frames of Thought Dr Nick Sousanis (San Francisco State University) FRIDAY 9 April 2021 10:00 – 10:15 Day’s Welcome 10:15– 11:45 Panel 2 2.1: Adaptations and Pastiche 2.2: Cultural Memory Audrey Chan Alberto Breccia’s Parody of Futurist Paintings in Graphic Narratives Miloš Tasić and Dušan Stamenkovic Visualising an Oral Epic: Lobačev’s Comic Book Ženidba Dušanova Oskari Rantala V for Pissed-offed-ness vs. Vendetta A case of anti-immigrant subversion of comics intertexts Jakob F. Dittmar and Anders Høg Hansen Pasts renewed in new German graphic storytelling Lena Holec Ravnikar Preservation of Slovene Literary History in Comics Hakan Keleş Expanded frame, time and space: 80’s Urban Atmosphere at Arabacıoğlu’s “Panorama” Pages 11:45 – 13:30 Panel 3 3.1: Curating, Constructing and Countering Women's Histories 3.2: Practice-based Research Neha Yadav Whose Line is it Anyway: Graphic Anthology Drawing the Line as a Counter-narrative to Mainstream Rape Reportage in India Andrea Aramburú-Villavisencio Curating the Ordinary: Relationality and Affect in Latin American Women’s Autobiographical Comics Esther McManus Constructing Inclusive Histories: Reflections on the temporality of comics and activist archives Natasa Thoudam In Search of a Form while Inventing a Language of Subversion through Stereotypes Daniel Merlin Goodbrey How to Cheat at Comics: Digital alternatives to traditional techniques for comic illustration Irina Richards Narrating cultural heritage through comics: a graphic investigation into witch-hare folklore of Wales 13:30 – 14:00 Lunch 14:00 – 15:30 Panel 4 4.1 4.2 Individual & Community Driss Faddouli Moroccan Facebookers and the Visual Rhetoric of Political Negation Ibtisam Ahmed The Utopian Critical Mass of Spider-Man Barbara Eggert Family Issues In Early Moomin Comic Strips Processes and products of drawing Clari Searle Creating ‘Funnies’: how to build an effective creative process for Higher Education pedagogy Peter Hebden The Stuff of Dreams: Objects and Disorientation in the work of Julie Doucet and Anders Nilsen Dom Davies Fracking Hell! Joe Sacco’s Seismic Lines 15:30 – 15:45 Break 15:45 – 17:00 Keynote Comics Studies and Education in...
Coastal Dystopias
18 March 2021, 2-3.30pm GMT Online via Zoom (booking required) CCL Director Dr Caroline Edwards (Birkbeck) will be speaking about "Coastal Dystopias" as part of the Institute for Historical Research (IHR) series on "Coastal Connections." Caroline will join Prof. Dr. Silja Klepp (Kiel), Dr Yi-Chia Chen (UColorado-Denver) and Prof. Dr. Teresa Sabol-Spezio (Independent Scholar, formerly at the Rachel Carson Center for Environment and Society) to discuss how coastal regions have inspired utopian and dystopian anticipations of ravaged future societies set amidst environmental crisis, calamity and apocalyptic devastation. The Coastal Connections series is running in Spring 2021 to extend interdisciplinary research connections relating to coastal histories. It is convened by James L. Smith (University College Cork), Tuba Azeem (Victoria University of Wellington), Melanie Bassett (University of Portsmouth), Elsa Devienne (Northumbria University), Xiaofei Gao (University of Colorado), Joana Gaspar de Freitas (University of Lisbon); Isaac Land (Indiana State University), David Worthington (University of the Highlands and Islands), Hannah Boast (University College Dublin) and Harrie Neal (University of York). Event description: While traditional histories of shorelines often focused on the triumph of the seaside leisure economy or perhaps on subsistence-related activities such as navigation and fisheries, recent developments have cast a grim shadow on the site at which land and sea meet and have forced scholars to rethink coastal history in a more dystopian light. Beaches, for example, are no longer simply associated with innocence, freedom and sensuality, they are places of refuge—providing shelter for Australians fleeing fires in January 2020—sites of muted or open military conflict—as seen most recently in the case of Varosha in Northern Cyprus—and, most tragically, the last resting place for many refugees attempting the Mediterranean crossing to Europe. In parallel, many artists have recently invested the coast with dystopian scenarios, from Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel New York 2140 to J. A Bayona’s film The Impossible. This phenomenon is actually not as new as it may seem at first sight. While many utopias have been set at the water’s edge, other narratives engaged with the dramatic quality of the shores with The Beach (1959), a Cold War movie dramatizing a nuclear doomsday, being a prime example. These cultural products remind us that the history of shorelines cannot be reduced to bathing beauties and dazzling resorts. In this seminar session, speakers coming from different disciplines (including history, geography, and literature) will discuss their research into the dystopian qualities of shorelines across the world. They will ask: why have coastlines been the (imagined or real) sites where a diverse array of dystopian scenarios have unfolded? Is there something new about the twentieth century and our present moment that makes coastlines appear particularly dystopian? How can...
CFP: Transitions 9 Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS: TRANSITIONS 9 – new directions in comics studies 2021 Online 8-10 April 2021 Hosted By BIRKBECK, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON Following the cancellation of Transitions 2020, we are delighted to re-announce the call for papers for Transitions 9 in 2021. Transitions is a platform for emerging research in comics that is free to attend and participate. This event is focused towards postgraduate and early career speakers, and draws a diverse crowd of both new and more established researchers, as well as creators, aficionados and other interested parties. Our aim is to build connections between comics scholars working in diverse contexts of research and practice, to provide a platform for productive debate, and to create a space from which further collaborations can emerge. Key note speakers: Prof Dr Sylvia Kesper-Biermann (Universität Hamburg) and Dr Nick Sousanis (San Francisco State University) Respondent(s): TBA Rather than adopting a narrow theme, the shape and identity of the programme will emerge from the submitted papers. We thus welcome abstracts for 20 minute papers, or pre-constituted panels of three, on topics including (but not limited to): Comics, comix, comic strips, graphic novels, manga, manhwa, bande dessinée superheroes, adventure, war, horror, fantasy, crime, romance, humour & other genres; documentary/historical/journalistic comics, autobiographical/biographical modes, graphic medicine politics of representation and inclusion in comics texts and productions, formal approaches, transgressive comics, educational and didactic comics, comics for young adults & children readers and fandoms, creators, comics & the law, publishing histories, web-comics & comics exhibitions, transnational circulation, political economy of comics Since Transitions this year will be held through video conferencing, we ask that presenters record a 20 minute presentation in advance, which will be followed by live q&a sessions for each panel. Further details for pre-recorded presentations will be shared once proposals have been confirmed. As always, Transitions 9 will be free and open to all. Please send your proposal to transitionssymposium@gmail.com. Please attach your abstract of 250-300 words plus a short biographical note (preferably as a Word document), indicating ‘abstract’ in the email subject line and your name in the file’s title. This year we are also seeking volunteers to sketchnote / visually record each panel, in order to compile a visual record of the conference. If you’d be interested in recording a panel, please email us a couple of (low-res) images or a link to an online portfolio at the above address with ‘sketchnoting’ in the subject line. You do not need to be submitting a paper to take part in this. The deadline for submissions is 7 March. We aim to notify applicants by 14 March. With best wishes, The Transitions Team...
MIR Live 2021
The CCL's very own Mechanics' Institute Review (MIR) is launching a new online series of evening events, MIRLive. Our first MIRLive of 2021 on Friday 26th February will be headlined by Femi Kayode whose debut novel Lightseekers comes out February 4th, published by Raven Books. Femi Kayode grew up in Lagos, Nigeria. He studied Clinical Psychology at the University of Ibadan and has worked in advertising over the last two decades. He was a Packard Fellow in Film and Media at the University of Southern California and a Gates-Packard Fellow in International Health at the University of Washington, Seattle. His writing credits include several award-winning works for the stage and screen. In 2017 he was awarded the UEA Literary Festival Scholarship, which helped to fund his MA in Creative Writing Crime Fiction. Whilst studying at UEA, his debut novel Lightseekers won the Little, Brown/UEA Crime Fiction Award. He lives in Namibia with his family. The show starts at 7.30 pm (GMT) Reading alongside Femi will be: Linda Mannheim Liam Hogan Tom Browning David Plans Stephen Vowles Elizabeth Holli Wood Watch Live via our Youtube Channel SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW CLOSED. Each event features a range of UK-based writers, from established authors to the next generation. Valuing diversity in literature, MIRLive is an inclusive and inspiring night. It is hosted by writers and comedians Kayleigh Cassidy and Alexandra Petropoulos, so expect a fun and engaging evening. It really is the best place to enjoy fresh writing within a supportive community. Guest authors to date include Bernardine Evaristo, Jonathan Coe, Abi Dare, Louise Hare, Derek Johns, Hari Kunzru, Susan Elderkin, Zoë Fairbairns, Russell Celyn Jones, Peter Hobbs, Benjamin Markovits, Erica Wagner, Marie Phillips, Kate Pullinger, Helen Simpson, Richard T. Kelly, Jeremy Sheldon, Sarah Salway, Jean McNeil, Rich Hall, Julia Bell, Richard Milward, Emer Martin, Blake Morrison, Nii Parkes, Robert Hudson, Amanda Smyth, Chloe Aridjis, Magnus Mills, A.L. Kennedy, Niall O’Sullivan, Alex Preston, Toby Litt, Monique Roffey, Michael Rosen, Mez Packer, Zoe Gilbert, Alan Beard, and Ronan Hession. The MIRLive team will put out a call for submissions for each event and readers may also be selected from the wider submissions pool. As we read your submissions, we may find a piece of work that we feel would be excellent read aloud and will get in touch to ask you to appear at one of our spoken-word events. If you feel that your work would be great for MIRLive, please do flag this up to us in your submissions email. Find out how to submit your work to The Mechanics’ Institute Review here. Submissions for MIRLive should be prose of up to 1500 words and poetry up to...
In Conversation with Jaspreet Kaur
Friday 26 February, Format: Online, 6.30-8pm Please book a place here Spoken word artist and teacher Jaspreet Kaur will be in conversation with Dr Ben Worthy (Birkbeck) to discuss her new memoir/manifesto Brown Girl Like Me (forthcoming Autumn 2021). The event is organised in connection with Jaspreet's work as the current Ben PiImlott Writer in Residence and is co-organised by the Birkbeck Centre for British Political Life and the Centre for Contemporary Literature. Brown Girl Like Me is an inspiring memoir-manifesto challenging existing portrayals of young South Asian women in the UK; providing a millennial perspective on how brown women navigate and balance the intersectionality of their identities in the new political climate. This book will ask and answer urgent questions about the current state of the world for young British Asian women through interviews with brown women across the country. Brown Girl Like Me aims to empower, support and equip brown women with the confidence and tools to navigate the difficulties that come with an intersectional identity, unpacking key issues such as the home, the media, the workplace, education, mental health, culture, confidence and the body. For more information about Jaspreet, see here: http://www.behindthenetra.com/ For more information about Jaspreet's memoir-manifesto, Brown Girl Like Me, see here: https://www.thebookseller.com/news/bluebird-snaps-kaurs-agenda-setting-debut-1206744# Featured image on the website homepage by Bold Content shared under a CC By 2.0...
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