Twilight Makes its Second Appearance

I recently found out about the following call for proposals:

Bitten by Twilight: Youth culture, media, and the Twilight saga

Edited by Melissa Click, Jennifer Stevens Aubrey, and Lissa Behm-Morawitz

Proposal deadline: April 10, 2009

The editors seek essays that explore Stephenie Meyer¹s wildly popular Twilight series. We are particularly interested in essays that explore the cultural significance of the Twilight phenomenon and its impact on youth culture. The collection will feature scholarly work from a diversity of theoretical and methodological perspectives, including: analyses of the series¹ messages, production and marketing processes, and audiences. We welcome work from a wide variety of disciplines, including: communication, sociology, cultural studies, psychology, religious studies, and gender
studies.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

–Representations of gender, race, class and sexuality
–Religion, morality, and values
–Feminist and anti-feminist themes in Twilight
–Intended and unintended audiences
–Fans and anti-fans
–Genre and vampire/werewolf folklore
–Relationship models (romantic, friendship, and familial)
–Space and place in Twilight
–Celebrity culture and Stephenie Meyer, Robert Pattinson, and Kristen
Stewart
–Translation of the series for the screen
–The Twilight franchise

This collection will be proposed to Peter Lang’s “Mediated Youth” series.

Please email a 250-word proposal, short bibliography, brief author¹s bio, and contact information to Melissa Click at clickm@missouri.edu by April 10, 2009.

Notification of accepted proposals will be made by May 15, 2009. First chapter drafts of 6000 to 8000 words will be due in early fall 2009.

While I certainly have a lot to say about Twilight, I have to admit that I’m a little intimidated by the academic tone (and not sure I want to read the rest of the Twilight saga to back up whatever claims I may make!) Still, I’m doing a lot of academic editing these days, and 250 words is so short. I might just whip something up and worry about pulling it off if the proposal gets accepted. The Mediated Youth series is awesome, and I look forward to seeing what comes from this call even if I don’t participate.