CFP: Mythic Structures (6/1/12; 9/26-30/12)

From: Cynthia Miller <[email protected]>

CALL FOR PAPERS
“Mythic Structures: Sacred Architecture and Ornamentation in Film”
An area of multiple panels for the Film & History Conference on “Film  
and Myth”
September 26-30, 2012
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
www.filmandhistory.org
Deadline: June 1, 2012

Medieval sanctuaries, Orthodox domes, Gothic stained glass, Romanesque  
portals -- all suggest cinematic settings full of hidden meanings,  
secret histories, and visions of the sacred. Their aesthetic  
perfection endows them with an aura of mystery as they silently  
narrate myths of faith, devotion, and the Divine.  Similarly, sacred  
ornamentation brings aesthetic beauty or symbolic significance to  
utility: Birds and trees connect heaven and Earth, the lotus  
represents purity, and the thorny-barbed acanthus guards the living  
from the dead. Each of these, whether adorning columns, doorways,  
ceilings, or altars, brings depth and intensity to cinematic settings  
and scenes.

This area, comprising multiple panels, seeks papers that explore the  
communication of myth through sacred buildings and architectural  
ornamentation in films across genres. Papers that explore how such  
myths are played out in films from outside the US and UK are  
especially welcome. Possible topics include, but are not limited to,  
the following:

Monasteries and austere architecture (as in Name of the Rose)
Ornamentation in sacred spaces (as in End of Days or The Wicker Man)
Architectural visions of the Divine (as in The DaVinci Code)
Windows of faith (as in The Blues Brothers or The Pillars of the Earth)
Sacred spectacle (as in The Secret of Sacred Architecture)
Altars of the gods (as in Raiders of the Lost Ark or The Hellfire Club)

Proposals for complete panels (three related presentations) are also  
welcome, but they must include an abstract and contact information,  
including an e-mail address, for each presenter. Please e-mail your  
200-word proposal by June 1, 2012:

Hee Sook Lee-Niinioja, Area Chair, 2012 Film & History Conference
“Mythic Structures: Sacred Architecture and Ornaments in Film”
Email: [email protected]