*CFP* "FATHER FIGURES IN ANIMATED/CARTOON TV SHOWS FOR MATURE AUDIENCES", EDITED COLLECTION

“The handy thing about being a father is that the historic standard is so pitifully low.”

Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize Winner

The trope of the “hapless dad,” clumsy and useless with his own children, appears in storytelling across several mediums—especially in animated cartoons on TV. For many contemporary cartoon shows for adult audiences, however, this trope appears especially pronounced, often leaning into the stereotype that competent childrearing is "women's work" for the benefit of comedy.

This edited collection, springboarded off David James Poissant’s award-winning article “Let’s Retire the Trope of the Hapless Dad” on UCF Forum, seeks to explore the variety of ways contemporary fatherhood is showcased in TV shows geared toward mature audiences.

Abstracts of academic essays should focus on analysis of father figures in animated or cartoon TV shows developed for adults. Applicants should offer careful consideration to how the portrayals of these dads may perpetuate harmful fatherhood myths and/or strike new ground on establishing healthier models of parental interaction. Discussion of non-traditional families and diverse father figures (queer, multiracial/multiethnic, differently-abled, etc.) is encouraged.

Final essays should aim for a total word count of 5,000 to 8,000 words. At this time, because of permissions restrictions, included images/screenshots from programming are not able to be included in this collection.

Original scholarship submissions, only. (No reprints.) The publisher will hold the copyright for essays accepted into the collection until the book is out of print. As this will be a peer-reviewed collection, several rounds of revision and editing may be needed until the final manuscript is ready for publication.

Wishlist of artifacts for this collection includes, but is not limited to:

• Adventure Time 
• American Dad 
• Aqua Teen Hunger Force 
• Archer 
• Beevus & Butt-head 
• Big Mouth 
• Bob’s Burgers 
• BoJack Horseman 
• Brickleberry 
• Clone High 
• Daria 
• Disenchantment 
• Drawn Together 
• F is fir Family 
• Family Guy 
• Futurama 
• Happy Tree Friends 
• Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law 
• King of the Hill 
• Paradise PD 
• Regular Show 
• Rick & Morty 
• Robot Chicken 
• South Park 
• Space Ghost Coast to Coast 
• Squidbillies 
• The Amazing World of Gumball 
• The Boondocks 
• The Cleveland Show 
• The Ren & Stimpy Show 
• The Simpsons 
• The Venture Bros.

Deadline: March 1, 2020

Submission 

Contact: Leslie Salas, leslie.salas@erau.edu