Call for Papers: Parazoology
A Special Issue of the Paranormal Review, the magazine for
the Society of Psychical Research
With Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the major
Warner Bros film written by JK Rowling, due to be released in
November this year, our collective imagination is drawn to
consideration of what these beasts are or might be and what
constitutes ‘fantastic’.
Attempts at natural history since Herodotus and Pliny the Elder
have constantly met with the prodigal and fabulous, of something
beyond zoology. We shall call this parazoology: the biology of the
supernatural; a study of the life of things that never lived. It
is the world of mermaids and unicorns, confined now to fantasy,
but once believed to exist; a world of the imagination that can
still affect us today. It can also be extended to the study of
parapsychological or ‘paranormal’ events concerning animals and
their interaction with humans.
The scope and interpretation of this subject is deliberately left
open and scholars from all appropriate disciplines are invited to
submit a proposal whether it is about animal-human telepathy,
witches' familiars or animal symbolism in alchemy.
Abstracts of no more than 300 words plus a short biography should
be sent to the Editor, Dr Leo Ruickbie, at [log in to unmask]
before 1 July 2016, with chosen papers of 2,000 words to be
submitted by 1 September 2016.
https://www.academia.edu/26185160/Call_for_Papers_Parazoology
All the best,
Leo
P.S. You can also email me if you want to discuss your idea
first.
Dr Leo Ruickbie, PhD (Lond), MA, BA (Hons), Associate of
King's College
Editor, Paranormal Review, the magazine of the
Society for Psychical Research
Member: European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism, Gesellschaft für Anomalistik (Committee), Parapsychological Association, Societas Magica, Society for Psychical Research, The Ghost Club
Author: Witchcraft Out of the Shadows (Robert Hale, 2004; 2nd ed., 2011); Faustus: The Life and Times of a Renaissance Magician (The History Press, 2009); A Brief Guide to the Supernatural (Robinson, 2012); A Brief Guide to Ghost Hunting (Robinson, 2013); The Impossible Zoo (Robinson, forthcoming)
Website: www.ruickbie.com
You can also find me on Facebook