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Annual conference Giessen/Wetzlar 2013

Fourth Annual Meeting of the Society for Fantasy Research (GfF)

Writing Worlds
World and space models of the fantastic

Together with the 33rd Wetzlar Days of Fantasy

at the Justus Liebig University Giessen,
in the rooms of the Fantastic Library Wetzlar

26-29 September 2013

Writing Worlds and Writing Worlds - Die Fantastik is characterized in its various forms of media expression such as literature, film, role-playing or performing arts through the design of a multitude of possible worlds in which the specific representation of space usually contributes to signaling the fantastic as well as the arsenal of characters acting in it. The 2013 fourth annual conference of the Society for Fantasy Research is therefore dedicated to examining this world/space construction and its significance in fantasy. The entire spectrum between the theory and analysis of fantastic world models on the one hand and the relation and semantics of fantastic spaces on the other hand is to be illuminated, as represented in Germany by Hans Krah, for example.

In addition to genre definitions such as Tzvetan Todorov's postulated 'indecisiveness' or Uwe Durst's approach of 'violating the laws of nature', the fantastic world construction also seems suitable for categorizing the steadily growing and evolving collection of fantastic texts. Medieval worlds, alien planets with their own laws of nature, or fantastic spaces that are hidden under, behind or in the current present show how differentiated the genre of fantasy can be in terms of world and space conception and how difficult it is to make generalized statements about ' the fantastic' are. Following Nietzsche, one can also exclaim about fantastic worlds with reference to the 'Possible Worlds Theory': So many worlds and how many new ones are still possible!

However, not only the depiction of the inner-fictional world as a possibility of genre definition is to be traced at this conference, but also the cultural significance of the space, which often comes into play in the area of ​​the fantastic associated with the 'journey'. In addition to Niels Werber's geopolitical approach and Jurij Lotman's reflections on the border as a topological cultural model, the Fantastik, with its innumerable border crossings, offers a test field for terms such as globalization, transnationality or multiculturality that are defined in many different ways.

In addition, some fantastic world models are characterized by their specific reference to reality and harbor a socio-critical potential that should not be underestimated: utopias or dystopias can show grievances that are currently being discussed or are to be discussed, especially about the semantics of the world and space. When it comes to the construction of genders in the fantastic, gender research cannot avoid considering the meaning of possibly gender-specific spaces. Another conceivable aspect of the conference is the relationship between the underworld and the upper world, which is currently changing in the fantastic, when the dead or the undead attend ordinary high schools, pursue ordinary jobs and can be found in their favorite pub after work. The question that remains to be answered at the conference is whether death still has or even needs a space reserved specifically for this 'taboo' topic beyond a 'final frontier'.

The possible approaches listed here are only a fraction of the questions that can arise at the conference, of the theories that can be set up - with Nietzsche: And how many new questions are still possible!

A scientific congress organized by Annette Simonis, Laura Muth, Pascal Klenke and Klaudia Seibel in cooperation with Section 10 – Fantastic Worlds of the Giessen Graduate Center for Cultural Studies and the Wetzlar Fantastic Library.

Contact:
Pascal Klenke, Laura Muth, and Klaudia Seibel
Spokesman for Section 10 – Fantastic Worlds
Giessen Graduate Center for Cultural Studies
Old Steinbacher Weg 38
D-35394 Giessen

gff2013@ggk.uni-giessen.de

There is one Flyer for the conference; as an overview you can do that too full program .

Proceedings have also been published, both in book form (“Writing Worlds. Models World and Space in the Fantastic") as well as digitally (in "comparative studies online").

Article on the Gießen/Wetzlar Annual Conference 2013