Tag: fantasy

Call for Papers: Fafnir 3/2014

Call for Papers: Fafnir 3/2014

Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research invites authors to submit papers for the upcoming edition 3/2014.

Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research is a new, peer-reviewed academic journal which is published in electronic format four times a year. The purpose of Fafnir is to join up the Nordic field of science fiction and fantasy research and to provide a forum for discussion on current issues on the field. Fafnir is published by FINFAR Society (Suomen science fiction- ja fantasiatutkimuksen seura ry).

Now Fafnir invites authors to submit papers for its edition 3/2014. Fafnir publishes various texts ranging from peer-reviewed research articles to short overviews and book reviews in the field of science fiction and fantasy research.

The submissions must be original work, and written in English (or in Finnish or in Scandinavian languages). Manuscripts of research articles should be between 20,000 and 40,000 characters in length. The journal uses the most recent edition of the MLA Style Manual. The manuscripts of research articles will be peer-reviewed. Please note that as Fafnir is designed to be of interest to readers with varying backgrounds, essays and other texts should be as accessibly written as possible. Also, if English is not your first language, please have your article reviewed or edited by an English language editor.

The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2014.

In addition to research articles, Fafnir constantly welcomes text proposals such as essays, interviews, overviews and book reviews on any subject suited for the journal.

Please send your electronic submission (saved as RTF-file) to the following address: submissions(at)finfar.org. For further information, please contact the editors: jyrki.korpua(at)oulu.fi, hanna.roine(at)uta.fi and paivi.vaatanen(at)helsinki.fi.

This edition is scheduled for September 2014. The deadline for the submissions for the next edition is scheduled at 31 August (4/2014).

Best regards,

Jyrki Korpua, Hanna-Riikka Roine and Päivi Väätänen
Editors, Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research

First issue of Fafnir, science fiction studies journal is out

Spread the word: the first issue of Fafnir – Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research is now out. Here is the table of contents:

Table of Contents: Fafnir 1/2014

siegfried_kills_fafnir

And Siegfried thought he killed Fafnir. How wrong he was…! (From Wikimedia Commons)

  • Editorial
  • Opposing Forces and Ethical Judgments in Samuel Delany’s Stars in My Pocket like Grains of Sand (Päivi Väätänen)
  • Agents or Pawns? Power Relations in William Gibson’s Bigend Trilogy (Esko Suoranta)
  • What is it that Fanfiction Opposes? The Shared and Communal Features of Firefly/Serenity Fanfiction (Hanna-Riikka Roine)
  • Good and Evil in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Legendarium: Concerning Dichotomy between Visible and Invisible (Jyrki Korpua)
  • Scholars Opposing Forces: Report on FINFAR 2013 Meeting (Katja Kontturi)
  • FINFAR: A Gift from Fandom to Academia (Liisa Rantalaiho)
  • Peeking into the Neighbouring Grove: Speculative Fiction in the Work of Mainstream Scholars (Merja Polvinen)
  • Call for Papers for the 3/2014 issue of Fafnir

The full journal is available at: http://journal.finfar.org/

FINFAR 2014 CFP

What is Finfar?

Finfar 2014, Finncon’s academic conference, will gather together the foremost experts and students of fantasy and science fiction for two days at the University of Jyväskylä. Students and scholars of all levels are welcome; texts are welcome in English, Finnish, and Swedish.

Due to the participatory nature of the conference and limitations on time and space, the conference is open only for the participants and designated commentators.

Call for Papers [in PDF format here]

DOES MIND MATTER – DOES MATTER MIND?

XV SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY RESEARCH SEMINAR

Department of Arts and Culture Studies, University of Jyväskylä

Thu & Fri 10–11 July, 2014

The traditional, free annual meeting of science fiction and fantasy scholars is again hosted in conjunction with Finncon, this year in the University of Jyväskylä. The questions about the relations between mind and matter are wide open for discussion, and all areas of speculative fiction as well as the mediums are freely approached.  We invite abstracts from various angles the convergence of mind, matter, time and space, ideas and arts, like “does mind matter”, “is there matter over mind”, or “does matter even care”. The mind/matter dichotomy is in connection to the questions of imagination and fantasy worlds and their materiality – like in dragonlands or steampunk.

Our Honorary member of Finfar, Cheryl Morgan will attend the English parts of the seminar. The commentators this year are Liisa Rantalaiho from the University of Tampere, researcher Markku Soikkeli, from the University of Helsinki Merja Polvinen and Paula Arvas, as well as Sofia Sjö from Åbo Akademi and Irma Hirsjärvi from the University of Jyväskylä.

We welcome all kinds of work focusing on science fiction and fantasy, whether you are working towards a seminar essay, article, MA thesis or a PhD. Papers can be in Finnish, Swedish or English, but if you wish to receive feedback from the international participants in the seminar, we recommend writing in English. The Guests of Honor are writers Elizabeth Bear and Hannu Rajaniemi and the Fan Guest of Honor the true new weird guy of Finland, Jukka Halme. However, even while/if we focus on the nature of reality and fiction through the themes of mind and matter,  all the papers about the works of Bear and Rajaniemi, arts and quantum physics or new weird not to mention fantastic in general are most welcome as well.

The plan is that the first issue of the year 2015 of Fafnir – The Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research will again collect the articles from this seminar.

Please send your 300-word abstract by April 31st to hirsjarvi@gmail.com (Word or RTF) with title FINFAR 2014 ABSTRACT [YOUR NAME]. Selection will be made and further instructions sent during May. The final paper should be 10,000–15,000 characters in length. Depending on the amount of abstracts we receive, we will try to accommodate papers not directly related to the seminar’s theme.

Welcome to Jyväskylä!

PhD, researcher Irma Hirsjärvi

Organising committee: Irma Hirsjärvi Paavo Ylämäki, Päivi Väätäinen, Jyrki Korpua

Organizers:

Finfar – Finnish Network of Fantasy Research

Finncon 2014 (http://2014.finncon.org/)
The Research Centre for Contemporary Culture, University of Jyväskylä

CFP: Fafnir – Nordic Journal for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research

Please circulate this CFP (I am at the journal advisory board representing game studies related themes):

CALL FOR PAPERS 2/2014

Fafnir – Nordic Journal for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research invites authors to submit papers for the upcoming edition 2/2014.

Fafnir – Nordic Journal for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research is a new, peer-reviewed academic journal which is published in electronic format four times a year. The purpose of Fafnir is to join up the Nordic field of science fiction and fantasy research and to provide a forum for discussion on current issues on the field. Fafnir is published by FINFAR Society (Suomen science fiction- ja fantasiatutkimuksen seura ry).

Now Fafnir invites authors to submit papers for its next edition, 2/2014. Fafnir publishes various texts ranging from peer-reviewed research articles to short overviews and book reviews in the field of science fiction and fantasy research.

The submissions must be original work, and written in English (or in Finnish or in Scandinavian languages). Manuscripts of research articles should be between 20,000 and 40,000 characters in length. The journal uses the most recent edition of the MLA Style Manual. The manuscripts of research articles will be peer-reviewed. Please note that as Fafnir is designed to be of interest to readers with varying backgrounds, essays and other texts should be as accessibly written as possible.

The deadline for submissions is 28 February 2014.

In addition to research articles, Fafnir constantly welcomes text proposals such as essays, interviews, overviews and book reviews on any subject suited to the paper.

Please send your electronic submission (saved as RTF-file) to all three editors at the following addresses: jyrki.korpua@oulu.fi, hanna.roine@uta.fi and paivi.vaatanen@helsinki.fi. For further information, please contact the editors.

This edition is scheduled for June 2014. The deadlines for the submissions for the next two editions are scheduled at 31 May (3/2014) and 31 August (4/2014).

Best regards,

Jyrki Korpua, Hanna-Riikka Roine and Päivi Väätänen
Editors, Fafnir – Nordic Journal for Science Fiction and Fantasy Research

Scifi-tutkijayhdistys, uusi tutkimusjulkaisu

[Finnish researchers of science fiction and fantasy join forces in academic association, establish new journal] Tiedote:

Suomen scifi- ja fantasiatutkijat järjestäytyivät

10.10.2013, julkaisuvapaa heti

Suomen science fictionin ja fantasian tutkijat ovat perustaneet akateemisen yhdistyksen lajityyppien tutkimuksen ympärille. Suomen science fiction- ja fantasiatutkimuksen seura ry:n tehtävänä on edistää monitieteistä ja monialaista tieteiskirjallisuuden ja fantasian tutkimusta Suomessa. Samalla yhdistys perustaa neljä kertaa vuodessa ilmestyvän akateemisen vertaisarvioidun tiedejulkaisun Nordic Journal of Science Fiction and Fantasy Research, jonka tarkoituksena on yhdistää kentän pohjoismainen tutkimus.

”Vaikka meillä on vahvat perinteet tieteis- ja fantasiataiteen tutkimuksesta, ala on tähän asti järjestäytynyt vain epävirallisesti. Meillä on kansainvälisesti huomattavan korkealaatuinen ja aktiivinen tutkimuskenttä, mutta tutkijoilla ei ole ollut juuri mahdollisuutta julkaista tutkimuksiaan pohjoismaisella tasolla – alan artikkelit ovat hajaantuneet ympäri maailmaa alan julkaisuihin, joihin suurin osa täkäläisestä tutkijoista ei pääse käsiksi,” toteaa päätoimittaja Jyrki Korpua. ”Myös Ruotsissa, Norjassa ja Tanskassa painitaan samojen ongelmien kanssa, joten tarve pohjoismaiselle tieteelliselle julkaisulle on todella voimakas. Toimituskunta on alansa huippua ja erittäin kansainvälinen, ja tähtäimessämme onkin nostaa alan pohjoismainen tutkimus merkittäväksi osaksi kansainvälistä kenttää.”

Scifi- ja fantasiatutkimus on kansainvälisesti monialaista ja laajapohjaista. Alan verkostot ovat perinteisesti huomattavan järjestäytyneitä, ja konferenssit tapaavat keskittyä tutkimuksen yksittäisiin osa-alueisiin. Suomen tutkijaverkosto pyrkii päinvastaiseen – tarkoituksena on kerätä saman akateemisen sateenvarjon alle kentän koko kirjo. Tutkijaverkosto avaakin ovensa niin kirjallisuuden, sarjakuvien, pelien, elokuvan kuin muiden taiteiden tutkimukselle. Fantasian ja scifin tutkimuksella on Suomessa poikkeuksellisen vahvat juuret: vuosittainen Finfar-konferenssi on jatkunut jo viisitoista vuotta, ja tutkijaverkosto on tehnyt tiivistä yhteistyötä ulkomaisten konferenssien ja tutkimusverkostojen kanssa.

”Kattomme on korkealla ja seinät laveat. Scifin ja fantasian tutkimus ei ole vuosikausiin rajoittunut kirjallisuuteen, ja muilla taiteenlajeilla on merkittävä osansa tutkimuksessa. Akateemisesti katsoen tieteis- ja fantasiataiteen tutkimus on varsin poikkitieteellistä, ja juuret voivat pureutua useisiin teoreettisiin viitekehyksiin ja malleihin,” Korpua jatkaa.

 

Lisätietoja:

Jyrki Korpua, päätoimittaja, jyrki.korpua@oulu.fi, 050-3574024

Mika Loponen, tiedottaja, mika.loponen@helsinki.fi, 050-4033305

New Directions in the European Fantastic published

untitledThe interesting new book, New Directions in the European Fantastic (edited by Sabine Coelsch-Foisner) has been published by Winter Verlag. It includes my article titled “The Global and Local in Fantastic New Media: The Case of Finland”, which is based on the keynote I delivered in the EUROFAN conference. You can find more information about the book from these places at least:

Pelit, pelimaailmat ja fantasian kautta voimaantuminen

[In Finnish] Tässä on luentorunkoni Tieteen päivät 2013 -esityksestä “Pelit, pelimaailmat ja fantasian kautta voimaantuminen”. Muut puhujat sessiossa “Verkkomaailmat – uhka identiteetille vai voimaantumisen mahdollisuus?” olivat Janne Matikainen, Susanna Paasonen ja Tere Vadén.