Call for papers
New Perspectives on Elvis: A One-Day International Conference
Memphis Public Library
21 August 2017
16 August 2017 will be the fortieth anniversary of the death of Elvis Presley, one of the most popular and controversial music makers of the twentieth century. ‘New Perspectives on Elvis’ is a day-long international event held at the Memphis Public Library. The aim is to offer fresh perspectives on the Memphis icon, not only grounding him in the context of his place and time, but also interpreting him in relation to developments both inside and outside the academy. Paper proposals are invited on a range of topics. As well as class, race and gender, these could include but are not limited to:
Elvis Presley and…
· Recent understandings of nation and region (the South and the American dream).
· Work on modernity (for example the Cold War, leisure, military service, the night).
· Contemporary research on childhood, age and generational memory.
· New analyses of music and media technology (for example studio recording, radio formats, remixes, social media).
· Developments in celebrity studies.
· Recent advances in studying the music industry: live music, merchandising.
· Popular music studies scholarship on genre or canonicity (for example, jazz).
· New research on vocality and the voice.
· Insights from fashion studies.
· Discussions of participatory culture, social media or fan phenomena.
· Research on heritage tourism.
· Cultural theory: understanding Elvis in relation to Derrida, etc.
· New questions in research methodology.
· Studies of musical taste (for example work on easy listening, the middlebrow, opera).
Places are limited. Papers will be a standard 20 minutes plus 10 minutes for questions. Please submit abstracts of less than 300 words for proposed presentations with equally short bios to m.duffett@chester.ac.uk before 27 March 2017. Successful applicants will be notified by 5 April 2017. The registration fee for this event is $100.
Advisory Committee:
Michael Bertrand, Tennessee State University
Claude Chastagner, University Paul Valery, France
Sara Cohen, University of Liverpool
Neil Nehring, University of Texas at Austin