In the wake of a successful multidisciplinary and international conference on the intersections between popular culture and notions of place held at Erasmus University Rotterdam (5-7th of April 2017) and initial interest from a reputable academic publisher, contributions are being welcomed for an edited volume entitled: Locating Imagination. Popular Culture, Tourism & Belonging.

As processes of globalization are ongoing, people have become more mobile than ever before. Not only does the increasingly ubiquitous presence of popular media culture facilitate imaginary travel to faraway places, but also stimulates a corresponding desire to actually experience the places connected to movies, TV-series, music, literature and video-games in person. Rapid increases in tourism towards places related to The Lord of the Rings in New-Zealand, Harry Potter in the United Kingdom and Game of Thrones in Croatia and Northern Ireland are just a few eye-catching examples of the increasingly intertwined nature of media, culture and place.

This volume intends to provide a timely, critical, integrated and multidisciplinary account of the multifaceted ways in which media, culture and place intertwine in an increasingly globalizing and multi-mediatized world. As such, we are seeking cutting-edge, empirically rich contributions from scholars across disciplines, including media studies, literary studies, fan studies, ethnomusicology, popular music studies, cultural geography, tourism studies, cultural sociology and place- & destination management, amongst others. We invite chapters that address central themes around the intersections of (popular) culture, place, tourism and belonging, such as:

  • Fan pilgrimages
  • Place identity and popular culture
  • Contemporary literary tourism
  • Music tourism
  • Historical media tourism
  • Themed and simulated spaces
  • Music festivals
  • Video-game-inspired tourism
  • Virtual tourism
  • Media- and fan conventions
  • Transmedia marketing and tourism
  • Place and storytelling
  • Media tourism in the media

We welcome suggestions for theoretically informed chapters based on qualitative or quantitative empirical research of around 6.000 words. Please send abstracts of a maximum of 500 words, in addition to a brief biography (max. 150 words) to: locatingimagination@eur.nl.

The deadline for sending in abstracts is Monday, 20th of November 2017.

Kind regards, on behalf of the editorial board,

Prof. dr. Stijn Reijnders; Abby Waysdorf, MA; Leonieke Bolderman, MA; and Nicky van Es, MSc