*CFP* "REPRESENTING THE SCOTTISH PAST IN FILM, TEXT, AND MEDIA", SCOTTISH STUDIES 2019 FALL COLLOQUIUM

Scottish Studies 2019 Fall Colloquium

‘Representing the Scottish Past in Film, Text, and Media’

Centre for Scottish Studies

University of Guelph

“The power of historical fiction for bad and for good can be immense in shaping consciousness of the past.” – Antony Beevor

Depictions of medieval and early modern Europe have captured the imaginations of the young and old since the nineteenth century. Continued revisiting and reshaping of historical narratives in film, television, and literature highlight the ways in which the pre-modern past continues to resonate with twenty-first century audiences. Interest in texts such as Justin Kurzel’s Macbeth (2015), HBO’s Game of Thrones, Showtime’s The Tudors, Starz’s Outlander, The History Channel’s Vikings, BBC’s Wolf Hall, and Philippa Gregory’s The White Queen draws attention to the ways in which we persistently engage with these past narratives while bringing them into dialogue with contemporary popular culture. In doing so, these texts ask us to consider the relationship between race and national identity, as well as issues of sexuality, gender, and equality. As the growing conservatism of national governments dominates global discourse, the perceived brutality, oppression, and general uncertainty of life in a ‘less civilized’ age provides a way for contemporary societies to grapple with the issues at hand.

Since Blind Harry first set pen to paper to tell the story (as he saw it) of William Wallace and the Scottish Wars of Independence, Scotland’s historic past has proven to be fertile ground for the imaginations of storytellers and the societies in which they live and operate. We therefore welcome proposals from individuals whose research explores representations of the past in any form. As the scope and influence of Scottish history is broad and far-reaching, we encourage proposals from a wide range of scholarly disciplines on the themes of gender, identity (both personal and national), propaganda, culture, society, accuracy, and authenticity as these pertain to the ways in which the Scottish past has been represented in audio-visual, print, and text materials. As part of our efforts to increase accessibility to scholarship and to foster an environment that supports vibrant interdisciplinary discussion, we will give due consideration to proposals from faculty, graduate students, independent scholars, and senior undergraduates from a variety of research backgrounds including, but not limited to: history, literature, film studies, folklore, sociology, anthropology, and political science.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• Accuracy and authenticity in representations of the past 
• Advertising and print culture 
• Audiovisual media and popular culture 
• Comics and graphic novels 
• Digital humanities and digital reconstructions of the past 
• Folklore, myth, and legend 
• Historical fiction 
• History painting and portraiture 
• Identity and performance 
• Period drama 
• Photography 
• Propaganda 
• Representations of sex and gender roles 
• Social norms and expectations 
• Songs 
• Video games

‘Representing the Scottish Past in Film, Text, and Media’ will be held 5-6 October 2019 and will feature the annual Jill Mackenzie Lecture (Speaker TBD).  

Please send proposals for papers 20-30 minutes in length to scottish@uoguelph.ca by 15 July 2019. Proposals should include an abstract of no more than 300 words describing your paper and a short biography of no more than 100 words. Please note that successful applicants will be asked to register for the conference at the rate of $20 CAD for students, post doctorates, and independent scholars, or $35 CAD for full time faculty.