Annual Conference Dortmund 2022

Fantastic geographies
13th Annual Meeting of the Society for Fantasy Research

TU Dortmund
22.-24. September 2022

 

Website: https://gff2022.wixsite.com/tudortmund

 

There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. - There is another theory which states that this has already happened.

 

Douglas Adams has with his world famous novel The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy shown that there is much more 'out there' than man – or Arthur Dent – ​​can imagine. Planet Earth is, after all, just one of many, and even here, humans have not yet plumbed all depths, explored all caves, and penetrated the densest forests. The fantastic uses these voids and fills them with the bizarre and incomprehensible, the creepy and hopeful - the possibilities are endless. But what all these places have in common is that they are localizable, even if they are irgendwo should be.

 

Each variety of fantasy, in each medium, has its own mechanisms and rules by which these geographies are constructed, whether through description and imagination or computer-generated landscapes. Distances have to be bridged, means of transport have to be found, chartered or hijacked, rituals have to be performed - everything to discover, enter or leave a certain place. Here it is important to note where this is located, whether the fantastical geography augments, complements, challenges or even replaces reality.

 

Cartography plays a special role in this context: Historically, cartographers have incorporated monsters into their elaborate maps for centuries, either to fill previously undiscovered geographic blind spots or to discourage other explorers from visiting those places as well. In the meantime, detailed maps of the secondary world are an integral part of many fantasy books, and in addition, here as well as in other genres, fans have made it their task to present the world(s) in different ways or even to transfer them professionally into other contexts, such as for example as adaptations in the form of computer or board games.

 

Thanks to technical progress, people can now be in several virtual and imagined realities such as rooms at the same time and project their image and their voice over long distances. This also raises philosophical questions about the construction of fantastic space: have we come to the point where we know too much about our universe and are now confronted with something even more bizarre? What happens to our bodies and identities when they are transferred into these abstract spaces?

 

We invite contributions on all forms and genres of fantasy and their engagement with geography in the narrower and broader sense, regardless of whether they deal with literature, comics, film, television, music, video and board games, or (live) role-playing games ( German or English). Any paper on the fantasy can be submitted in the open track. We particularly welcome topics such as:

• Construction and rules of fantastic geographies of any kind
• Geography and various forms of fantasy (sci-fi, horror, fantasy, urban fantasy, etc.)
• Representation of different geographies and cartography (e.g. big city, fairytale forest, space), also as an artistic achievement
• Historiography of Fantastic Geography
• Abstract, digital and imaginary spaces
• Fantastic geographies in texts especially for children and young people / young adults
• body geographies
• Gender, Sexuality, Ethnicity, Disability, Aging and Geography
• Adaptation Theory and Translationology in Fantastic Geographies
• Ludology and Geography
• Geography as Palimpsest or Heterotopia
• Fantastic sensory worlds (soundscapes, smellscapesetc.).
• Ecology and environmental protection (Environmentalism)
• displacement and emplacement
• Discovery as practice
• geography and transportation

 

Please send your exposé (300 words in German or English) for a 20-minute presentation and a short biography (150 words) by 28.02.2022 to gff2022@tu-dortmund.de. All current information about the conference can be found on our website: www.gff2022.wixsite.com/tudortmund.

The Gesellschaft für Fantastikforschung awards scholarships of 200 euros each to doctoral students to cover travel expenses caused by attending a conference. If you are interested, please let us know as part of your exposé submission.

 

Organization team: Kristin Aubel, Christian Lenz, Sarah Neef

GfF 22 Call for Paper_dt

GfF 22 Call for Paper_eng