CFP: Marriage and Family Myths (6/1/12; 9/26-30/12)

From: Cynthia Miller <[email protected]>

CALL FOR PAPERS
“Marriage and Family Myths in Film and Television”
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

Representations of marriage and family in film and television are central
to our shared cultural conceptions of these institutions. In every era,
ideals are formed around marriage and family that are shaped just as much
through presence (literal representations) as they are through absence
(tales of longing for these ideals).  How do representations of marriage
and family shift in order to accommodate changing cultural conditions? How
are representations of marriage and family understood by critics and
audiences as mythology?

This area, comprising multiple panels, will address the operations of
mythology in moving image representations of marriage and family throughout
historical and cultural changes. Papers that explore how such myths are
played out in national contexts, outside of US culture, are especially
welcome. Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Ethnic Family Sitcoms in Early Television
Backlash: Single Parent Families and Postfeminism in Film and Television
Classical Hollywood Comedies of Remarriage
The “Family Hour”: Broadcast Policies and Family Programming
Generation Gap: The Impact of the Counterculture on Representations of
Family
Family Nostalgia: 1950s Ideals in Contemporary Film and Television (Far
From Heaven, Pleasantville, Mad Men)
The Family in Wartime
Gender Trouble: Myths of Traditional Masculinity and Femininity
The “Family” Film: Disney and the General Audience Market

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:

Caryn Murphy
Area Chair, 2012 Film & History Conference
“Marriage and Family Myths in Film and Television”
University of Wisconsin Oshkosh
Email: [email protected]