Liminal Noir: Case Studies of Genre-bending Classics
Edited by Elyce Rae Helford and Christopher Weedman, Middle Tennessee State University
Edited by Elyce Rae Helford and Christopher Weedman, Middle Tennessee State University
This edited scholarly collection seeks to explore the ongoing usefulness of the "noir" label through attention to less heralded films that straddle genres, are difficult to categorize, or have been limited in academic study because of their identification with a single genre, style, star, or director. Our goal is not to expand the noir canon but to recover lost nuances and give new life to specific classical era (1930s - early 1960s) films by exploring them through a noir lens.
Each chapter will be a case study of an individual film, explored through elements and/or theories of film noir that suit the contributor. Other films may be mentioned, but the focus should be on the value of a noir approach to new understandings of the individual film.
Each chapter will be a case study of an individual film, explored through elements and/or theories of film noir that suit the contributor. Other films may be mentioned, but the focus should be on the value of a noir approach to new understandings of the individual film.
We seek new, original work only; no reprints.
We welcome submissions by film scholars at all levels.
While we anticipate receiving many submissions on Hollywood cinema, we encourage work on collection-relevant international films.
We welcome submissions by film scholars at all levels.
While we anticipate receiving many submissions on Hollywood cinema, we encourage work on collection-relevant international films.
A few sample titles to further clarify the book’s focus and objectives:
Less interesting: La Bête Humaine (France, 1938), Cat People (US, 1942), Die Mörder Sind Unter Uns (Murderers Among Us, Germany, 1946), Pursued (US, 1947), It Always Rains on Sunday (UK, 1947), Drunken Angel (Yoidore Tenshi, Japan, 1948).
More interesting: Moontide (US, 1942), Aventurera (The Adventuress, Mexico, 1950), Thunder Bay (US, 1953), Stolen Identity (Austria, 1953), Quand Tu Liras Cette Lettre (When You Read This Letter, France, 1953), King Creole (US, 1958).
Less interesting: La Bête Humaine (France, 1938), Cat People (US, 1942), Die Mörder Sind Unter Uns (Murderers Among Us, Germany, 1946), Pursued (US, 1947), It Always Rains on Sunday (UK, 1947), Drunken Angel (Yoidore Tenshi, Japan, 1948).
More interesting: Moontide (US, 1942), Aventurera (The Adventuress, Mexico, 1950), Thunder Bay (US, 1953), Stolen Identity (Austria, 1953), Quand Tu Liras Cette Lettre (When You Read This Letter, France, 1953), King Creole (US, 1958).
submission requirements and timeline
- One-page abstract with working bibliography and brief c.v. to elyce.helford@mtsu.edu and christopher.weedman@mtsu.edu by January 31, 2020. (Queries may also be sent to these addresses.)
- Expect response from us by March 31, 2020.
- Completed chapters (5000-7000 words) will be due by August 1, 2020.
publisher
Routledge has expressed preliminary interest in the collection. We will seek a formal contract once we have a working table of contents and several completed chapters.
Potential alternate publishers include University Press of Kentucky and University Press of Mississippi.
As is usual for academic books, we expect a copy of the finished volume but not payment to be available to contributors.
Potential alternate publishers include University Press of Kentucky and University Press of Mississippi.
As is usual for academic books, we expect a copy of the finished volume but not payment to be available to contributors.
About the editors
Elyce Rae Helford, Ph.D., is author of the forthcoming What Price Hollywood?: Gender and Sex in the Films of George Cukor (University Press of Kentucky, 2020) and editor of The Woman Fantastic in Contemporary American Media Culture (University Press of Mississippi, 2016), a special issue on SF Anime for the journal Science Fiction Film and Television (2014), Fantasy Girls: Gender in the New Universe of Science Fiction and Fantasy Television (Rowman and Littlefield, 2000), and Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek (Westview, 1996). Her recent articles have been published in journals including Feminist Media Studies and Jewish Film and New Media.
Christopher Weedman, Ph.D., is author of the recent article “A Dark Exilic Vision of 1960s Britain: Gothic Horror and Film Noir Pervading Losey and Pinter’s The Servant" (Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 2019). His scholarship has also appeared in Film International, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Senses of Cinema, and the edited collection Fifty Hollywood Directors (Routledge, 2015). He is currently writing the monograph Anne Heywood: Beauty and Sex in the Controversial Film (University Press of Mississippi).
Christopher Weedman, Ph.D., is author of the recent article “A Dark Exilic Vision of 1960s Britain: Gothic Horror and Film Noir Pervading Losey and Pinter’s The Servant" (Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, 2019). His scholarship has also appeared in Film International, Quarterly Review of Film and Video, Senses of Cinema, and the edited collection Fifty Hollywood Directors (Routledge, 2015). He is currently writing the monograph Anne Heywood: Beauty and Sex in the Controversial Film (University Press of Mississippi).
