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<TITLE>CFP Science Fiction Histories Symposium</TITLE>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">CALL FOR PAPERS</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">STATE OF THE ART: SCIENCE FICTION HISTORIES</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Perth, Western Australia</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">22<SUP>nd</SUP>-23<SUP>rd</SUP> March 2008</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">In his recent history of the genre, Roger Luckhurst argues that the marginalisation of Science Fiction (SF) from the literary establishment helped readers and writers to identify its conventions. Fandom blossomed from this liminal space, its culture providing a unique history of the relations between texts and their readers. While fans were the first historians of SF, other communities have since established their own versions of the genre. The rise of national SF in countries such as Brazil and the old Soviet Union, China and Japan de-centre its Anglo-American bias. Feminist and queer writers work to unravel its phallocentrism and heterosexism. Histories of black and Aboriginalist fiction point out the political uses of the form. The genre has itself been shaped by its reception by these communities. In Anglo-American SF, the genre's intimacy with fandom has transformed the way its fiction (and history) has been written. It is with a view to thinking through such developments that this symposium seeks work on what SF has been to different audiences at different times, on rewriting generic history to arrive at a better understanding of the state of the art today.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Papers are invited on the following or related topics:</FONT>
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<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Histories of the SF community</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Intersections and interactions between fan and popular cultures, and between fandom and the general public.</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Political histories in SF, such as Marxist, anarcho-capitalist, etc</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Intersection of SF with feminist & queer theories</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Postcolonial approaches to SF</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">National histories of SF</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Non-Anglo-American traditions of SF</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">History of race in SF</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">The collapse of genre: slipstream, new weird, etc</FONT></LI>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial"> </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sponsored by Curtin University of Technology, the symposium will be held as part of<I> State of the Art: Swancon 2008</I>, the National Australian convention of science fiction, fantasy and horror.</FONT></P>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">SPEAKERS</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Swancon 33 guests of honour are:</FONT>
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<UL>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Ken McLeod (Scotland)</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Paul Cornell (UK)</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Glenda Larke </FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Zara Baxter</FONT></LI>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Confirmed Speakers for the Symposium are:</FONT>
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<UL>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Mark Bould (The University of the West of England)</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Andrew Milner (Monash University)</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sylvia Kelso (James Cook University)</FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Stephen Dedman (University of W.A.)</FONT></LI>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">SUBMISSIONS</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Submissions are sought for both individual papers and panel presentations.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Papers –submit 300-500 word abstract</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Panels - submit 300 word description of the panel theme and short abstracts / details of panel participants</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">PUBLICATION OF PAPERS</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Selected papers from the symposium will be published in a special journal issue. To be considered for publication, draft papers must be submitted before the symposium.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">DEADLINES</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Abstracts due: December 7. 2007</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Draft papers (for publication) due: March 14, 2008</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">CONTACTS</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Sonia Marcon, Swancon Academic Stream</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Darren Jorgensen, Media, Society & Culture, Curtin University of Technology </FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Helen Merrick, Media, Society & Culture, Curtin University of Technology</FONT>
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<P><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Email: sciencefictionhistories@gmail.com</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">Website: </FONT><A HREF="http://www.swancon.com/"><U><FONT COLOR="#0000FF" SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">http://www.swancon.com/</FONT></U></A>
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