Call for Papers Sponsored by Association for the Advancement of Scholarship and Teaching of the Medieval in Popular Culture; International Arthurian Society, North American Branch (IAS/NAB); International Pearl-Poet Society
Organized by Michael A. Torregrossa, Joseph M. Sullivan, and Amber Dunai
60th International Congress on Medieval Studies
Western Michigan University (Kalamazoo, Michigan)
Hybrid event: Thursday, 8 May, through Saturday, 10 May, 2025
Please Submit Proposals by 15 September 2024
Session Information
Released in 2021, David Lowery’s film The Green Knight thrust the medieval romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight into the spotlight like never before and attracted the attention of viewers and critics across the globe. Scholars of medieval literature and film have also been inspired by the film’s release, and there is now a flourishing field of The Green Knight Studies as displayed in articles, books, conferences, essays, special issues, and themed sessions. However, all of this attention on Lowery’s work creates a limited understanding of the full post-medieval afterlife of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
We propose this session as a counter to the flurry of attention on Lowery’s work. The Green Knight is merely one example of a much wider array of adaptations of the story that began in the sixteenth century with The Greene Knight and continues to this day with comics, drama, fiction, film, games, illustration, music, opera, picture books, radio broadcasts, and television programming. Beyond these, aspects of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight have been appropriated by many creative artists and integrated into their own creations in various media. Collectively, these adaptations and appropriations make up a rich textual tradition for Sir Gawain and the Green Knight that now extends over five centuries and deserves more notice.
Our intent in this session is twofold:
- First, to uncover what we lose by focusing on Lowery’s film outside of the larger context of adaptation and appropriations of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
- Second, to highlight what can be added to the larger fields of Arthurian Studies and Pearl-Poet Studies by widening our view of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight to include further or other adaptations and appropriations of the text in our research and teaching.
Submissions should address at least one (if not both) of the following questions:
- What other adaptations and appropriations do we miss by focusing on Lowery’s film?
- What do we gain (for the disciple, our students, and/or ourselves) when we look beyond it?
Thank you for your interest in our session. Please address questions and/or concerns to the organizers at MedievalinPopularCulture@gmail.com.
Submissions will also be considered as part of an essay collection on the theme.
Submission Information
The process for proposing contributions to sessions of papers, roundtables and poster sessions for the International Congress on Medieval Studies uses an online submission system powered by Confex. Be advised that submissions cannot be accepted through email. Rather, access the direct link in Confex to our session at https://icms.confex.com/icms/2025/paper/papers/index.cgi?sessionid=6431. You can also view the full Call for Papers list at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/call.
Within Confex, proposals to sessions of papers, poster sessions and roundtables require the author’s name, affiliation and contact information; an abstract (300 words) for consideration by session organizer(s); and a short description (50 words) that may be made public. Proposals to sessions of papers and poster sessions also require a title for the submission (contributions to roundtables are untitled).
Proposers of papers or contributions to roundtables for hybrid sessions should indicate in their abstracts whether they intend to present in person or virtually.
If you need help with your submissions, the Congress offers some resources at the Participating in the Congress page at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/participating-congress. Click to open the section labeled “Propose a Paper” and scroll down for the Quick Guide handouts.
Be advised of the following policies for participating in the Congress:
You are invited to propose one paper (as a sole author or as a co-author) for one session of papers. You may propose a paper for a sponsored or special session or for the general sessions, but not both. You may propose an unlimited number of contributions to roundtables and poster sessions, but you will not be scheduled to actively participate (as paper presenter, roundtable discussant, poster author, presider, respondent, workshop leader, demonstrator or performer) in more than three sessions.
Further details on the Congress’s Policies can be found at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/policies-guidelines.
A reminder: Presenters accepted to the Congress must register for the full event. The registration fee is the same for on-site and virtual participants. For planning, the cost for the previous year’s event is posted at the Congress’s Registration page at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/registration.
If necessary, the Medieval Institute and Richard Rawlinson Center at Western Michigan University offer limited funding to presenters. These include both subsidized registration grants and travel awards. Please see the Awards page at the Congress site for details at https://wmich.edu/medievalcongress/awards.
