CfP: Progressive Rock, Metal, and the Literary Imagination
Call for Paper: Progressive Rock, Metal, and the Literary Imagination
Deadline: 29.11.2021
Progressive Rock, Metal and the Literary Imagination will present analyses of progressive rock and metal music that reveals a striking engagement with literary texts and themes – from classic literature, mythology and poetry to science fiction, horror, and other genres. While many of the extant publications on progressive rock and metal have focused on the history of progressive rock, few have examined the ways that it intersects with the literary imagination, whether drawing on myths, legends, and stories as source material, or using storytelling modes to create new stories and worlds. Progressive rock musicians have often created concept albums based around these source materials and worlds, and they offer more than simply fantasy and escapism, with narratives and themes that comment on the social, cultural, and political milieux in which they are made.
The proposed book will be the first to examine the literary worlds and storytelling narratives of this body of music, with a focus on the following key perspectives for progressive rock and metal:
Theoretical tools for the analysis of narrative
Literary adaptations
Myths and mythologies
Dystopian and utopian visions
Subjectivities and identities
We welcome proposals from a wide range of geographical and literary contexts, and from scholars working in a variety of disciplines.
Chapter and Proposal Instructions:
Chapters will range from 5000-5500 words. Chapters of joint authors representing several disciplines might reach 6000 words.
350-word abstracts will contain:
Information about the band, album, song, etc., and general background information
Summary of the engagement with literature and narrative
Declaration of analytic goals and focus
Description of the methodology and analytic techniques to be applied
Relevant references
Timeline:
Proposals should be submitted by November 29, 2021 to progliterary[at]gmail[dot]com
Decisions: January, 2022
Chapters due: December, 2022