From The Voice of the Shuttle comes this call for papers. *Shakes head*
"I just followed the bodies": Corporeality and Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The Northeast Modern Language Association Convention
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
March 3-7, 2004
In the episode "Seeing Red," Willow tells Tara, "We'll decipher codes and foil evil schemes." Her statement speaks to the ways in which the plots of/in Buffy the Vampire Slayer center on acts of (re)interpreting signs. Throughout the series, Buffy's life is marked by a "slay-study double feature" as characters convene in the library, their homes, the Magic Box, to research the Hellmouth and its demonic activities. The "study sessions" that are guided by the Watcher who pours over ancient texts and Willow who searches the web illustrate
different methods of identification and interpretation. In the episodes, bodies are transformed-from human to demon/vampire/god, from innocent bystanders to victims, schoolgirls to slayers-and replicated-as spells and magic breed doubles and switched-bodies. The "evil schemes" are mapped on/through the characters' bodies, illustrating the possibilities and limitations of transforming the body, (re)signifying shape and form. These bodies perform as texts for others to (mis)read. After seven seasons, the closure brought by the series' final episode leaves another body in its wake: Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a textual body. Angel's statement, "I just followed the bodies," performs in myriad ways, demonstrating the ways in which characters decipher the signs within the series and the ways in which one begins to critically dissect the text of/in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
In the series, plots hinge on the (mis)readings of replicated, transformed, switched, and marked bodies; this panel will explore how we read the body in/of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This panel will explore the conversations between contemporary "body theory" and the bodies inscribed within the series to analyze the relationship between the body and discourse. How are the bodies in Buffy the Vampire Slayer inscribed and then read? What are the limits and possibilities of reading and reinscribing the body revealed in/through Buffy the Vampire Slayer? How do we critically approach the bodies within the series and the series itself? How do we critically (de)construct the body of Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
Deadline for 1-2 page abstracts is September 15, 2003. Please send them via email (in text of email) to Lisa Perdigao at Lkperdigao@aol.com or in hard-copy to
Lisa K. Perdigao
Department of English
406 Holmes Hall
Northeastern University
Boston, MA 02115-5000
All accepted panelists must be NEMLA members by October 15, 2003. For more information about the convention see www.nemla.org.
Today is definitely one of those days when the Doctor will be 'oh my god'-ing to himself an awful lot....
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