21 August 2017, start time: 10.15am
University of Memphis
University of Memphis
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
University of Memphis. 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.
· Work
on modernity (Cold War, leisure, military service, the night).
· Contemporary
work on childhood, age and generational memory.
·
Music and media technology (studio, radio formats, social
media).
· Developments
in celebrity studies.
·
Advances in studying the music industry: live music,
merchandising.
· Popular
music studies work on genre or canonicity (including jazz).
· New
research on vocality and the voice.
· Insights
from fashion studies.
· Discussions
of participatory culture 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 (easy listening, the middlebrow, opera).
Places
are highly 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 8
April 2017. Successful applicants will be notified shortly
thereafter.
The
registration fee for this event is $100. Tickets are available here. Submissions will only be fully accepted
if this fee is paid within a month of approval. The registration fee is
non-refundable, except in the case that the event is cancelled by the
organizer.
Dr Mark Duffett is
Reader in Media and Cultural Studies at the University of Chester. He has
published on Elvis fandom since 1999 and is keynote speaker at the University
of Kent interdisciplinary conference, Always On Their Mind: Elvis
Presley and Consumer Culture in June 2017.
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
Neil Nehring, University of Texas at Austin
