Frontispiece to the 1831 edition of Frankenstein. Steel engraving by Theodore von Holst.

Conference: The Fates of Frankenstein
23-24 November 2018, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh
2018 sees a flourishing crop of events commemorating, one way or another, the bicentenary of Frankenstein’s publication. The Fates of Frankenstein is a two-day conference about adaptations and appropriations of Shelley’s novel.
The fate of Frankenstein and his monstrous creation has been to outlive their original context. Indeed, Frankenstein almost immediately escaped its book covers into Richard Brinsley Peake’s 1823 stage adaptation, Presumption; or, the Fate of Frankenstein. Two hundred years later, Shelley’s compelling tale has given rise to what Audrey Fisch describes as a ‘panoply of manifestations and permutations’ in popular culture.
This conference explores Frankenstein’s myriad cultural fates, in which it not only inspires new narratives and creative works but is also widely invoked by the media and in a range of social and scientific contexts. Over two anything-but-dreary days in November, the conference will take stock of the ways in which Frankenstein remains very much alive in 2018, and of trends and innovations in its adaptations, retellings, and reuses in the last two centuries.
Confirmed speakers: Professor Catherine Spooner, Lancaster University; Dr Daniel Cook, University of Dundee.
Potential topics include, but are not limited to:
– Frankenstein on television, in films, on stage
– Frankenstein for young readers and viewers, in children’s literature, in YA
– Frankenstein art, craft, fashion
– Fandom, fan studies, fan fiction
– Genre treatments: Gothic, horror, weird, SF, comedy, romance
– Interdisciplinary Frankensteins: medical humanities, environmental humanities, digital humanities
– Frankenstein and the social sciences
– Frankenstein and the life sciences
– Frankenstein in technology, robotics, AI
– Frankenstein metaphors
– Frankenstein in the news, in politics, in social media
– Frankenstein in science communication
– Graphic novels
– Cartoons, animations
– Creative writing
– Music, soundtracks, performance
We welcome proposals for traditional 20-minute papers, and also encourage pre-formed panels, round tables, performances, workshops (or other appropriate format).
Please send proposals of around 250 words plus a short biography to the conference organisers Sarah Artt and Emily Alder at frankensteinat200@gmail.com by 23 May 2018.