Borders in/of Adaptation
Association of Adaptation Studies
1-2 October, 2020
Université de Bourgogne, Dijon, France

 Keynote speakers:
Elisabeth Bronfen (University of Zurich, New York University)
Deborah Cartmell (University of Leicester)
Jatinder Verma (Artistic director, Tara Theatre)

For the 2020 edition of the Association of Adaptation Studies conference, we would like to examine the presence and nature of borders as they appear in adaptations. Much recent work in adaptation studies has focused on expanding the scope of the discipline, beyond the dichotomy of book and film that dominated early studies in the area – while outside the ivory towers, borders between nations have been an increasingly contentious subject in public and private discourse.

As such, we invite participants to submit abstracts for papers dealing with borders:

  • Between media (between the source text and its adaptation, including the possibility of movement from narrative to non-narrative forms (music, merchandise, etc.) and back again (adaptations of attractions like Pirates of the Caribbean, games like Battleship, or toys as in The Lego Movie or Playmobil: The Movie)
  • Between works (the borders created or overcome in franchises, sequels, prequels, crossovers, or episodes)
  • Between stages of development (from source text to adaptation of course, but also different versions screenplays and what are often proliferating texts that may influence what appears on the screen).
  • Between formats (for example the streaming services blur the boundaries of what constitutes a film or a TV movie, and the proliferating texts of franchises that have arguably made film into serialized storytelling formerly relegated to television or radio)
  • Between genres (the hybridity of genres and its appeal and/or limitations, especially in the medium-specific genres inherent to sources and their adaptations)
  • Between nations or groups, both diegetically (issue of borders and boundaries having a significant place in Propp’s narratology, and the transposition of locales being a recurrent phenomenon in adaptation) and industrially (the perennial question of what constitutes the nationality of a film or series given the increasingly scattered/widespread nature of production, and how this might pertain to adaptation)

This list is not exhaustive. Papers must be written in English and should not exceed 20 minutes.

We will also be soliciting proposals for round tables, with three or more participants offering thematic subjects suitable for 30-minute discussions.

There will be a workshop for graduate students in adaptation led by Professor Monika Pietrzak-Franger on the afternoon before the conference (September 30, 2020). Download the application for the graduate student workshop here.

The AAS also provides up to three student travel bursaries for students. Download the application form for the travel bursaries here.

On the Saturday following the conference, October 3, there will be an outing to a glorious medieval hospital, les Hospices de Beaune, followed by a wine tasting/luncheon at Clos de Vougeot castle/vineyard.

Following the conference, the participants will be invited to submit their articles for publication in a series of thematic issues of Parnassus award-winning journal Interfaces. The deadline for paper or roundtable proposals is February 1st, 2020. Proposals should include the paper title, as well as a 300-word abstract in English (in the form of a Microsoft Document saved as “AAS_your name”), a short biographical note, your academic affiliation and your contact information.

Proposals must be sent to the organizing committee: Shannon Wells-Lassagne (Shannon.Wells-Lassagne@u-bourgogne.fr) and Candice Lemaire (Candice.Lemaire@u-bourgogne.fr), University of Burgundy, Centre Interlangues – Texte, Image, Langage EA 4182.

You do not need to be a member of AAS to submit a conference proposal, but you must be a paid-up member in order to attend the conference or to be included on the final programme. For information about joining AAS, see (http://www.adaptation.uk.com/join-the-association/).

Download the conference poster here.