CFP: The American Cowboy in a 21st Century Context

CALL FOR PROPOSALS

Rethinking, Remaking, Reimagining: The American Cowboy in a 21st Century
Context
Volume Editor: Clint Jones ([email protected])
Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
PLEASE CIRCULATE BROADLY

Submissions are currently being sought for an upcoming anthology focused on
the changing dynamics of the “Cowboy” as a central archetype of the
American mythos. Submissions should interrogate aspects of the cowboy as a
pop culture figure in the 21st century paying special attention to how the
figure of the cowboy has been updated, altered, re-invented,
re-interpreted, re-envisioned, or challenged in any genre of popular
culture that utilizes the motif of the American West, the Wild West, or the
Cowboy. This anthology seeks to bring together an interdisciplinary
collection of essays engaging the idea of shifting dynamics of the cowboy
legacy across social, political, and cultural landscapes.

One of the major goals of this collection is to get beyond the traditional
venues of culture critique as it applies to the Western motif in popular
culture—typically identified as film, television, literature, and fashion.
Essays examining the Cowboy archetype in the context of the traditional
venues will not be given less consideration, but this volume seeks to
elevate the discussion beyond this scope by drawing upon less traditional
areas of critique such as video games, graphic novels, animated short
films, and other overlooked resources, including work that explores the
exportation of the Cowboy mythology to other cultures.

The goal of this collection of essays is to examine specifically the ways
that the American West is re-presented in a contemporary context as an idea
and at the same time examine how the cowboy is re-presented as an identity
where both aspects are used to frame, develop, and reify American values,
customs, and traditions.

The anthology will be organized according to themes and subject matter that
emerge from submissions. Essays must be new scholarship, not previously
published or under consideration elsewhere, and, while the focus of the
essays should be on the use of the cowboy in pop culture artifacts, authors
should maintain a level of academic rigor in accordance with the
expectations of UOP. Please contact Clint Jones ([email protected]) with
questions regarding topics or related lines of inquiry. Submit proposed
chapter titles, abstracts of 500 words, or completed essays, along with a
brief CV, to Clint Jones by Nov. 1, 2018. Completed essays will be given
priority. Completed drafts, 6,000-8,000 words, including notes, are due by
Feb. 1, 2019. Note: acceptance of a proposal does not guarantee the
acceptance of the full chapter into the completed volume. All submissions
are subject to a peer review process prior to contract and publication.

Again, please contact Clint Jones ([email protected]) with questions
regarding topics or related lines of inquiry.

Robert Arp, PhD
(703) 946-4669
[email protected]
robertarp.com

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