Gender & History calls for article abstracts for a special issue on ‘Gender & Historical Film and Television’. Throughout the history of moving pictures, the construction of various versions of ‘the past’ has been a constant preoccupation in narrative films and television programs, as well as in documentary and educational films and television. These depictions generally mediate gender ideologies in (at least) two temporal contexts: the time period they represent and, perhaps more importantly, the time period in which they were made. Gender construction and representation (including cultural constructions of femininity, masculinity, fluid and transgender identities) are key areas of interest, as are renditions of other forms of difference, such as race or sexuality. A crucial question to ask, therefore, is what kind of cultural ‘work’ do historically themed films and TV shows do? We encourage contributors to think contextually and critically about how gender informs both the ‘pasts’ constructed in films and TV shows and the reception of those media at the time of their creation. We welcome proposals that engage ethnic, regional, national, transnational and global film or television traditions, as well as those that address gender intersectionally in connection with other categories of difference and power including but not limited to race, gender identity, class, sexuality, religion, ethnicity and ability. We encourage both disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches. We discourage proposals that are focused primarily on evaluating relative degrees of historical accuracy in representations of the past. Interested authors are encouraged to consult the extended version of this call for abstracts on the Gender & History website.
The production of the special issue will follow a symposium, to be held at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in late April or early May 2017 (precise date to be announced), whose participants will be selected on the basis of the abstracts submitted. Please submit 1-2 page abstracts in English (500-750 words maximum) to gendhist@umn.edu by August 31, 2016, with ‘Special Issue 30:3 abstract submission’ in the subject line. (Limited funds for the translation of articles written in other languages might be available). Invitations to present at the symposium will be issued in November 2016. Papers must be submitted for pre-circulation to the editors by March 30, 2017. After the symposium the editors will select papers to be considered for publication, and revised versions of selected papers must be received by September 1, 2017. Manuscripts will then immediately enter the peer-review process so that the editors can produce the issue by May 2018 for publication in November 2018.
