Contemporary Depictions of Mormons and Mormonism in Lit

[_Blixa]

I recently got a call for papers for a book of essays to be called:

Peculiar Portrayals: Contemporary Depictions of Mormons and Mormonism on the Page, the Stage, and the Screen

In case anyone here may be interested in submitting (see! I'm really not a credentialist!), I'm posting the specs. I'm undecided if I want to send a proposal or not. Some of my current project would fit the bill (not sure I want to give it to these guys, though), or I could knock something up specially for it. Still mulling it over...

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Mormons often refer to themselves as a "peculiar people," implying that their devotion to their faith and the unique truth of their gospel set them apart from the rest of the world. Most people, however, simply find Mormons peculiar. Much evidence of this popular perception can be found in contemporary literary and filmic depictions of Mormons and Mormonism. Both Allen Drury's Advise and Consent and Tony Kushner's Angels in America focus on politically dangerous Mormon characters whose religion has turned them into hypocrites. Lighter entertainment sometimes features Mormon characters best described as absurdist, such as the missionary-turned-porn-star in Orgazmo. And while Big Love's portrayal of polygamist and businessman Bill Henrickson is sympathetic, the show's appeal rests heavily upon its creation of a fundamentalist Mormon suburban surrealism. Even authors who have a Mormon upbringing often create peculiar Mormon characters, such as the sometime-Mormon main character of Brady Udall's The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, who finds his life permanently altered when the postman runs over his head, or the comic protagonist of Walter Kirn's Thumbsucker, who turns to Mormonism as one of several substitutes for his obsessive thumb sucking.

Yet while peculiar Mormon characters have haunted the contemporary popular imagination, there have been few attempts to interrogate this cultural phenomenon. This proposed collection seeks to explore the rhetorical and political uses contemporary writers have made of their peculiar Mormon characters. Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

* Queer sexuality and Mormonism
* Mormonism, polygamy, and patriarchy
* Mormons and Mormonism and political conservatism
* Mormons as a stereotyped ethnic group
* Mormonism in conversation with contemporary spirituality
* Mormons and Mormonism in genre fiction
* Mormons and the American middle class

Finished essays will be between 4,500 and 6,500 words long, including notes and references. Essays that focus on texts created primarily for a Mormon audience will not be considered for inclusion in this proposed collection.

Please submit a 500 word abstract in the body of an email to Michael Austin at maustin@shepherd.edu or Mark Decker at mdecker@bloomu.edu by July 1, 2007

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Their description makes use of a term/concept (ethnic Mormon) that I'm very leery of, too ("Mormons as a stereotyped ethnic group"). In fact it was my suprise at seeing this very term that started me on my Googling journey that led to various message boards...

[_moksha]

Blixa, I know your avatars change daily but the young Tarzan one seems somehow unsettling.

[_Blixa]

hmmm...its a lady, Moks. But nevermind, I'll find another (these are portraits of actual people by Julian Opie, a British artist I like a great deal).

Hope you like this one better.