Trickster Association would like to invite you to the second edition of the conference dedicated to the Marvel universe. We want to focus, among others, on Marvel’s approach to the superhero motif, managing and designing a universe and realising the genre conventions.

The fictional universe created for the purposes of Marvel’s products is one of the most intriguing and at the same time most complex creations of contemporary pop culture. This universe – or rather multiverse – currently exceeds the boundaries of one medium, has many fans around the world and a rich history (both fictional and actual). For researchers of pop culture in many of their aspects it is a topic the analysis of which can bring many cognitive benefits that go far beyond the analyses of single texts belonging to Marvel Entertainment.

In 2014 during the „Marvel Universe” conference co-organised by Trickster Association and Opole University Club of Film Experts we wanted to create an opportunity for confronting perspectives from which you can look at the Marvel universe. 2017 seems like a good moment to continue these contemplations. In relation to the second edition of the conference –this time taking place in Wrocław – we would like to invite literary scholars, art historians, researchers of comic books, films, video games and other media in which Marvel universe is present but also culture experts who study visual culture, sociologists, especially those interested in fan cultures, psychologists and educators who study the impact of mass culture on recipients.

The proposed lecture subjects:

• Marvel’s superhero convention,
• anthropology and axiology of Marvel’s multiverse,
• psychology of superhero culture texts reception,
• Marvel in contemporary visual culture,
• profiles of authors (writers and graphic artists) in Marvel universe,
• (re)constructions – adaptations of the universe in other media,
• Marvel universe as a mirror of social, political and cultural changes (race, gender and class in the Marvel universe),
• cultural topos in Marvel,
• realisations of genre conventions (science fiction, horror, fantasy, noir) in Marvel universe,
• Marvel in comic book markets (especially the Polish market),
• Marvel fan culture,
• Marvel peculiarities,
• managing and designing a universe,
• Marvel in other culture registers,
• Marvel in the context of other comic book universes,
• Marvel and religious, philosophical and ideological currents,
• Marvel as a pop-brand (gadgets).

Date: 23-24.06.2017
Submissions deadline: 28.05.2017 until midnight using the application form
Place: CaféTHEA (Przejście Żelaźnicze 4, Wrocław)
Conference fee: PLN 150 (the cost of conference materials, coffee breaks and post-conference publication)
Estimated time of a lecture: 20 minutes
Conference languages: Polish, English
Contact: Michał Wolski – michal.wolski@tricksterzy.pl, Radosław Pisula – radoslaw.pisula@tricksterzy.pl