[Erin K. Hogan]

The aim of this proposed paper panel session is to explore new interpretations of the Gothic mode’s child characters in the cinema of Spain and Latin America by departing from the theoretical “haunts” in existing criticism. Readings that engage with the paradigms of Derridean hauntology, pioneered by Jo Labanyi, and historical memory have prevailed in the examination of films depicting the Spanish Civil War and Francisco Franco’s dictatorship. This session would like to showcase papers that open up films in the Gothic mode with child or adolescent characters, if not protagonists, to new readings. In an edited volume from 2016, Ann Davies theorizes a “hidden” and transnational Gothic mode in Spanish cinema and advocates for the analysis of this sensibility in its own right (2016: 118). For Davies, tell-tale indications of the mode include: decayed or ruined buildings, patriarchal or domineering figures who wield power over innocents, shadowy labyrinths and enclosed spaces, a past that haunts the present, and dark secret to be discovered (2016: 117).

 

How do films with Gothic undercurrents such as these engage with theoretical frameworks besides those of hauntology and historical memory? Which works partake in the Gothic mode but have not been discussed in these terms? What is the role of the Gothic child? The proposed session is not limited to a specific time period and will consider submissions on child and adolescent characters in the cinematic and televisual production of Spain and Latin America.

 

Thank you in advance for submitting your paper to this session! Paper proposals (300 words) may be submitted between June 25^th and September 30^th through NEMLA’s online system (http://www.buffalo.edu/nemla/convention/submit.html https://www.cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/16136). Decision e-mails will be sent by October 15^th. NEMLA asks that accepted and confirmed panelists pay their membership/registration fees by December 1, 2016 in order to present at the 2017 convention.

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