Old and new formats of historical fiction: archeology of a popular culture
Formats de la fiction historique : archéologie d’une culture populaire
Published on Thursday, November 08, 2018
Abstract
This symposium will first deal with the way in which each format, in its own terms, influences, modifies, adapts, and updates the genre of historical fiction, thus assuring its unfailing popularity. We will be particularly interested in confronting the different formats, genres and periods.
Announcement
The Symposium will take place the 22nd November 2019
Presentation
Two centuries after the resounding publications of Walter Scott’s and James Fenimore Cooper’s novels, the successes of series such as The Crown (Netflix, 2016-) and video games like Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft, 2007) testify to the consistent popularity of historical fiction across generations. The persistence of such a craze for historical fiction seems to be linked, at least partially, to the regular creation of new formats that both renew the genre and reactivate the popular potential of the older works that may have fallen into abeyance. This one-day symposium aims to conduct a critical and analytical reflection on the genre of historical fiction so as to build an archeology of its formats as popular forms from the 19th century to today (novel, cinema, TV series, graphic novels, video games). Rather than focusing on a single form, papers will preferably adopt a transversal approach (both in terms of period and format) to themes and analyses.
This symposium will first deal with the way in which each format, in its own terms, influences, modifies, adapts, and updates the genre of historical fiction, thus assuring its unfailing popularity. We will be particularly interested in confronting the different formats, genres and periods. For instance, we wish to explore the persistence of the 19th-century historical fiction in the contemporary formats and, conversely, study how they draw elements from the older genres (one may consider here, for example, the link between 19th-century serialized historical novels and today’s TV-series). One may also examine how the representation of a historical character, or an event, varies depending on the genres and formats. The questions of heritage and influence will thus be crucial to our reflection. Attention should also be paid to the questions of conservation and accessibility of sources, as well as to the physical aspects of the forms and formats of historical fiction. Papers may also discuss the extent to which the new formats of historical fiction redefine the reader’s, spectator’s, and video-game player’s relation to history: does it suggest new modes of construction of historical knowledge?
We welcome papers exploring (but not exclusively) the following avenues of research:
- Origins, avatars and heritages of the historical novel and historical romance.
- The audiovisual historical narrative, from feature films to TV-, or post-TV series (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, webseries) and video games.
- Processes of adaptation and remediation.
- The political, commercial and ideological issues at stake in the different formats.
- Incidence / influence of the genre and of the formats on the treatment of themes, events, and/or historical characters.
Submission Guidelines
Proposals (250 to 300 words) should be sent by February 15, 2019.
Duration of papers: 20 min.
Scientific Committee
- Marjolaine Boutet, Université de Picardie
- Laurence Cros, Université Paris-Diderot
- Emilia Le Seven, Université Paris-Diderot
- Ariane Hudelet, Université Paris-Diderot
- Michel Imbert, Université Paris-Diderot
- Marie-Jeanne Rossignol, Université Paris-Diderot
Subjects
- Representation (Main category)
- Mind and language > Representation > Cultural history
- Mind and language > Representation > Visual studies
Date(s)
- Friday, February 15, 2019
Keywords
- fiction historique, histoire, romans, films, séries TV
Contact(s)
- Ariane Hudelet
courriel : ariane [dot] hudelet [at] u-paris [dot] fr - Laurence Cros
courriel : laurence [dot] cros [at] u-paris [dot] fr
Reference Urls
Information source
- Ariane Hudelet
courriel : ariane [dot] hudelet [at] u-paris [dot] fr
License
This announcement is licensed under the terms of Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal.
To cite this announcement
« Old and new formats of historical fiction: archeology of a popular culture », Call for papers, Calenda, Published on Thursday, November 08, 2018, https://doi.org/10.58079/1183
