Concepts in Popular Genre Fiction 6-8 December

Popular genre fiction is an expansive field, covering a myriad of different kinds of texts and narratives. However, critical discussions of popular genre fiction often centre on value – is it good for us? is it bad for us? is it progressive? is it conservative?

By contrast, this virtual symposium, to be held 6-8 December through Deakin University as part of the Literature and its Readers research network, seeks to open up different sorts of questions, in order to consider other ways of examining, analysing, and utilising popular genre fiction. Papers explore concepts, ideas, and motifs, and the role that they play in popular genre/s. Papers take the form of ten minute podcast recordings, with asynchronous discussion channels open 24/7 throughout the symposium.

Key Note Speakers

The first of our keynote speakers will be Farah Mendlesohn (@effjayem). Farah is the author of several acclaimed books on popular genre fiction, including Rhetorics of Fantasy and Children’s Fantasy Literature: An Introduction.

Our second keynote speaker will be Jayashree Kamble (@prof_romance). Jayashree is currently the vice-president of @IASPR and the author of Making Meaning in Popular Romance Fiction: An Epistemology.

And finally, we will host a keynote panel by the research team from the Genre Worlds project, Lisa Fletcher (@lmfletcher72), Beth Driscoll (@Beth_driscoll) and Kim Wilkins. This fascinating project explores genre in 21st century Australian popular fiction.

These three keynote events will be held synchronously via Zoom between December 6-8 2021.