*CFP* "THE SLASHER STUDIES MASSACRE", AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SLASHER THEORY, HISTORY AND PRACTICE

The Slasher Studies Massacre

An International Conference on Slasher Theory, History and Practice

Friday the 13th / Saturday the 14th / August 2021

 

Slasher, a disreputable offcut of the horror genre, has been the subject of intense criticism over the last 40 years. Despite an emergent body of scholarship that closely examines this subgenre across various forms and periods, seminal works from the 1980s and early 1990s still continue to monopolise the field, heavily referenced and applied to contemporary texts. It is undeniable that critics in film studies such as Robin Wood, Carol J. Clover, Vera Dika, Linda Williams and Barbara Creed provide us with important theoretical foundations that are still useful today. However, more needs to be done to examine the ways in which their works have been interpreted, developed and innovated by recent scholarship to create a critical discourse that appears to situate itself in “slasher studies,” a seemingly distinctive branch of horror studies that has gradually emerged over the last 20 years.

By collating papers that consider the relationship between slasher theory, history and practice, this online conference interrogates the very notion of “slasher studies” and its potential definition(s). Indeed, this conference fundamentally asks if “slasher studies” is an academic discipline in its own right, distinctive from horror studies, and if so, how did it become? Alternatively, if “slasher studies” is not its own academic discipline, why not and what are the disciplinary politics at play?

In asking these questions, this conference is the first of its kind and provides a safe and supportive interdisciplinary space for scholars to present their research, share their ideas and build a network with others working in the field, questioning and rectifying a plethora of theoretical, historical and practical assumptions in the process.

We welcome abstracts of 250 words for papers to be presented as part of this online conference to be held on Friday 13th and Saturday 14th August 2021, addressing any topics that develop theoretical, historical and practical traditions and analyses of the slasher subgenre.

Topics might include, but are not limited to:

• slasher and the (inter)disciplinary politics of theory 
• style and form, aesthetics and narrative 
• film and the mechanics of cross-media platforms (television, video games, novels, music, etc.) 
• characterisation and identification 
• national cinema(s) and (trans)national reception 
• Hollywood, production and distribution 
• audience and reception 
• gender and sexuality 
• race and ethnicity 
• disability and the politics of representation 
• class and the politics of representation 
• psychoanalytic and cultural readings

 

Please email abstracts of no more than 250 words, and a short bio, to Daniel Sheppard (daniel.sheppard@bcu.ac.uk) and Dr Wickham Clayton (wickscripts@gmail.com) by Friday 30th April 2021.

For more information and regular updates, follow The Slasher Studies Massacre on Twitter @SlasherStudies or visit our website.