Call for Contributions
Moving Pictures/Stopping Places:
Hotels & Motels on Film
“One of the major changes in the cinema and in real
American life has been the shift from the train and the
hotel to the car and the motel, from a nation confidently
progressing together on a preordained track to an anxious
collection of isolated individuals frantically free to make
individual journeys in any direction. A hotel is a society in
miniature; a house is a symbol of family and continuity; the
motel has become a metaphor for angst and alienation.”
(Philip French)
David B. Clarke & Valerie Crawford Pfannhauser are
planning an edited volume on the theme of cinematic
hotels & motels. We are aiming to put together a proposal
to submit to our preferred publisher by mid June, 2003 &
are currently seeking expressions of interest. We are
looking to receive short (c. 200 word) abstracts from
interested parties by late May, 2003. We intend to
produce a multi-disciplinary volume with ample illustration,
along the lines of _The Cinematic City_ (Routledge,
1997).
Without aiming to be prescriptive, the kind of themes we
anticipate covering include:
*the thematic/visual/symbolically significance of
hotels/motels in film; hotels/motels & film genre;
hotels/motels as a part of the cityscape; hotels/motels &
film production
*the emotional/affective/ideological valency of
hotels/motels in film; physical, geographical, psychological,
spiritual & metaphorical mobility in relation to modernity
& postmodernity; freedom, escape, anonymity, restraint;
futuristic & nostalgic visions; utopia & dystopia
*the hotel/motel as a point of departure; as part of a
journey, a transitory or ephemeral space; as a terminus; as
a frontier space; as a metaphoric foil to the status or state
of mind of the characters; as places of transition,
transgression, & discovery, often sexual or sexualized
*the leading role played by hotels/motels; the functionality
of space in cinematic narratives (e.g. the hotel lobby);
changes in the symbolism of hotels/motels (from the luxury
hotel to the cheap motel)
*similarities & differences to the role of hotels/motels in
other art forms & media
Interested parties should send a 200-word abstract either
by mail (to D. B. Clarke, School of Geography,
University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK) or email (to
[log in to unmask]) by 31 May, 2003. We will
aim to confirm the final list of contributors by mid June,
2003.
Please feel free to circulate this e-mail
Thanks,
Dave Clarke
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