GSA 2023   |    October 5-8, 2023   |    Montréal, Québec, Canada

Panel “Reproductive Tales”:

This panel welcomes proposals on the representation of reproductive issues in literature, cinema, and media of the German-speaking countries in the 20th and 21st centuries.

We would like to explore textual, cinematic, and visual narratives about reproduction-related matters (fertility, infertility, motherhood, contraception, abortion, miscarriage, loss of a child, adoption, and so on). Possible questions to address might include, but are not limited to, the following:

• How do people construct their individual reproductive narratives, and how are these narratives connected with the notions of trauma, social and religious restrictions, racial discrimination, and LGBTQ+ rights?
• What distinguishes fictional works dealing with reproduction from personal reproductive narratives?
• How do these narratives change over time, and what role do law, state, religion, and ideology play in establishing specific narratives?
• How can reproductive narratives contribute to the advancement of reproductive justice?

Please send a brief abstract (approximately 350 words) and a short bio to Olesya Ivantsova (oivantso@oberlin.edu) and Waltraud Maierhofer (waltraud-maierhofer@uiowa.edu) by March 10, 2023. We consider publishing a volume of collected articles; if you are interested in contributing to this publication, please indicate it in your proposal.