Dear Colleagues, 

(With apologies for cross-posting)

Following the success of the first Imaginative Landscapes and Otherworlds conference last year, my colleague, Ali Norton, and I are hosting another on the specific theme of 'Accessibility and Mobility'. 

Please see the text of the CFP below. 

Kind Regards,

Dr. Ryan Denson

IMAGINATIVE LANDSCAPES AND OTHERWORLDS
Call for Papers- June 14, 2023 (online)
 
Imaginative landscapes and otherworlds can be broadly defined as spaces that are distinguished from our ‘normal’ spaces by fantastical qualities, such as fairy lands or paradisical abodes, and which abound in literary, folkloric, and religious contexts. Yet, the border between ‘ordinary’ and ‘extraordinary’ space is not so shut off, wherein such realms coexist independent of each other. Rather, it is habitually conceptualized as a porous boundary, allowing otherworldly spaces to be reached and traveled into by inhabitants of our ‘ordinary’ space (and, in turn, allows for the residents of these fantastical spaces to enter into the ‘ordinary’ world). Accessing and moving to/from otherworldly space is always a liminal activity, albeit sometimes in a manner that is nearly imperceptible.
 
For instance, in Beowulf the journey to the mere of Grendel’s mother is characterized by passing through, among other sights, a ‘joyless wood.’ The mere is an otherworldly space of fantastical monsters, yet easily accessible, and eerily within riding distance of the ‘ordinary’ world represented by Hrothgar’s great hall. 
 
The purpose of this conference is to explore the theme of accessibility and mobility between the space conceptualized as part of the ‘normal’ world and the fantastical space of imaginative landscapes and otherworlds in pre-modern eras.
 
Contributions might include, but are not limited to:
	· Exploration (or attempted exploration) of otherworldly space
	· Folkloric journeys to imaginative landscapes
	· Locating imaginative landscapes within ‘real’ geography
	· Modes of transportation into/out of an otherworld
	· Narratives of granting access to an otherworld
	· Legends of otherworldly inhabitants venturing into the ‘ordinary’ world
	· Religious journeys to paradisical spaces
 
This online conference is hosted by Canterbury Christ Church University and the University of Exeter. It will take place on June 14, 2023. Proposals should be no more than 250 words, for a 15-20 minute paper. Deadline for submission is April 20, 2023.
 
Please include your name and a brief biography (50-100 words) with submissions. Please send abstracts to [log in to unmask]

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