[Donna Kornhaber]

The Films of Wes Anderson

A special issue of Texas Studies in Literature and Language (TSLL)

 

Wes Anderson is among the most recognized and recognizable writer-directors working today: the recipient of six Academy Award nominations, the subject of countless magazine profiles, the topic of several recent books, and the object of an ever-growing number of viral internet parodies. Yet while certain corners of the media sphere are saturated with Anderson coverage, consideration of his work by academic film scholars is only just beginning. This special issue of Texas Studies in Literature and Language (TSLL)—published out of the English Department of Anderson’s alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin—seeks to further develop the burgeoning critical engagement with Anderson and his works by pushing the academic conversation in new directions. Whereas the popular press has tended to lavish attention on the intricacies and idiosyncrasies of the director’s hallmark visual style, Anderson offers academic commentators numerous lines of inquiry that may or may not incorporate questions of his visual motifs, any of which can help place Anderson’s work in dialogue with film history, with theoretical trends and movements, or with issues of literary and filmic style. Contributions are welcome from any critical perspective, whether theoretical, historical/materialist, or formalist, on topics such as the following:

 

• Anderson and cosmopolitanism: the place(s) of multiculturalism and cultural imperialism in Anderson’s films
• Anderson as icon: the auteur as fashion-plate, as media darling, or as trendsetter and its implication for the reception of his work
• Anderson and fan culture: questions of universing, fan fiction, fan art, and fan filmmaking
• Anderson and the ensemble: questions of casting, re-casting, and type casting in his films
• Anderson and imitation: the refracted image of Anderson’s oeuvre as seen through its numerous online parodies
• Anderson’s Others: problematic issues of race, ethnicity, and Orientalism in his work
• Anderson and cinephilia: visual and formal inheritances, nostalgic traces, and intertextuality
• Anderson and adaptation: literary sources and literary qualities in his films
• Anderson abbreviated: the director’s short films, commercials, and promos as a distinct body of work

 

Proposals due by January 23, 2017.  Please submit name, affiliation, abstract (150-200 words), and a brief biographical note (100 words) to Donna Kornhaber at donna.kornhaber@austin.utexas.edu.

 

For accepted proposals, submissions of 6,000-10,000 words will be due by August 1, 2017. Submissions should include a list of 7-10 keywords and an abstract of 150-200 words; format the submission according to the MLA Style Manual, 7th edition; and use endnotes rather than footnotes.

 

Queries are welcome and encouraged.  Please contact Donna Kornhaber at donna.kornhaber@austin.utexas.edu.

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