Excalibur is not a thing, something you can hold in your hand.
Excalibur is the good in you.
The power to do good, to stand up for what's right, to slay dragons, to capture bank robbers.
You always carry Excalibur in your heart.


Robert Tinnell, Kids of the Round Table (1995)

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Camelot on the Small Screen (2014 CFP)

Another belated CFP:

Call for Submissions: Camelot on the Small Screen (Edited Collection)
Publication Date: 2014-02-28 (Archive)
Date Submitted: 2014-01-21
Announcement ID: 210619

Call for Submissions: Camelot on the Small Screen (Edited Collection)

In the past five years, there have been three television series based on the Arthurian legends: the French Kaamelott, the BBC’s Merlin, and Starz’s Camelot. Previous decades have seen dozens of series, miniseries, made-for-television movies, and animated incarnations of the legends, from The Adventures of Sir Lancelot in the 1950s to Australia’s Arthur! and the Square Knights of the Round Table or the 2001 miniseries The Mists of Avalon. The proliferation of these productions testifies to the enduring power of the myth and its continued relevance to modern audiences. Until now, most Arthurian scholarship has focused on the medieval literary corpus, modern literary adaptations, and cinematic treatments of the tales, and relatively little attention has been paid to television portrayals of Arthur and his court. We therefore plan to propose an edited collection that addresses this imbalance. Essays might analyze contemporary issues and themes (gender, marginalization, or religious intolerance, for example), compare TV series to literary texts, focus on a particular character within a single series or across several series, etc. We are particularly interested in essays that examine the following programs: --The Adventures of Sir Lancelot (British series from the 1950s) --The Legend of Prince Valiant (American animated series from the 1990s) --Arthur of the Britons/ Arthur, the Young Warlord (British series from the 1970s) --Mr. Merlin (American series from the 1980s) --Merlin of the Crystal Cave (British miniseries from the 1990s) --adaptations of A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (many have been made over the years) --Japanese anime (King Arthur, King Arthur: Prince on a White Horse, Tears for Tiara, etc.) --The Mists of Avalon (American miniseries from 2001) --Merlin (American miniseries starring Sam Neill) --The Legend of King Arthur (British series from the 1970s) --Guinevere (American made-for-television movie from the 1990s) --King Arthur and the Knights of Justice (American animated series from the 1990s) --Sir Gadabout: The Worst Knight in the Land (British series from 2002) --extended Arthurian subplots in otherwise non-Arthurian programs The preceding list is not exhaustive, and we would be interested in essays that cover any number of Arthurian shows; however, we are not seeking essays on the three most recent series (the French Kaamelott, the BBC’s Merlin, and Starz’s Camelot).

Articles should be 7,000-8,000 words in length including references. Please send abstracts of approximately 500 words and a short biography to Drs. Tara Foster (tafoster@nmu.edu) and Jon Sherman (jsherman@nmu.edu) at Northern Michigan University; any queries can also be sent by e-mail.

The deadline for abstract submission is February 28, 2014. We will respond to submissions by mid-March, and first drafts should be submitted by the end of August 2014.

Tara Foster
Modern Languages and Literatures
Northern Michigan University
906-227-1814
Email: tafoster@nmu.edu