Hi, Please could I offer clarification on the recently posted call for contributions (copy below), since I've had a few queries from list members on this (particularly from Rashmi -- sorry, my emails to you keep bouncing back). Basically, the message is that we are interested in contributions relating to any national cinema (the quotation at the top of the flyer isn't meant to imply an exclusively US focus). Many thanks, Dave 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