Zombies, Plagues, and Other Pandemics in Literature and Visual Media (2025 NeMLA Conference)
Philadelphia, PA
Organization: NeMLA
Event: 2025 NeMLA Conference
Dear colleagues,
Please consider submitting an abstract for the panel "Zombies, Plagues, and Other Pandemics in Literature and Visual Media" at the [NeMLA Convention](https://www.nemla.org/convention.html) that will take place in Philadelphia, PA on March 6-9, 2025.
This session strives to compare world pandemic literature and visual media, offering a sample of renowned fictional works that have grappled with the theme of pandemics and zombies throughout history. Spanning from the 5th century BC to the contemporary era, the session welcomes cinematic and visual works (from any country) examining how pandemics have been perceived and confronted across diverse cultures and epochs.
From the Black Plague to cholera to the Spanish flu, and including discussions of COVID-19 and zombies, the session explores the profound impact of pandemics on individuals and societies on a global scale. The list of possible writers to discuss is extensive, but here are some options to consider:
- **Greek and Latin literature:** Thucydides’ *History of the Peloponnesian War*, Lucretius’ *De Rerum Natura*
- **Italian literature:** Boccaccio’s *Decameron*, Manzoni’s *The Betrothed*, Giordano’s *In the Contagion*
- **Spanish literature:** Marquez’s *Love in the Time of Cholera*, Bellatin’s *Beauty Salon*
- **French literature:** Camus’ *The Plague*
- **British literature:** Defoe’s *A Journal of the Plague Year*, Shelly’s *The Last Man*, Sweeney-Baird’s *The End of Men*
- **U.S. and Canadian literature:** London’s *The Scarlet Plague*, Poe’s *The Mask of the Red Death*, St. John Mandel’s *Station Eleven*, Ma’s *Severance*
The options for visual media are even more extensive. Some films / TV series to consider might be Visconti’s *Death in Venice*, Petersen’s *Outbreak*, Soderbergh’s *Contagion*, Darabont’s *The Walking Dead*.
Some questions raised by this panel might be: Do portrayals of zombies or pandemics exhibit cultural or regional differences? What are the transnational points of connection in different countries’ depictions of disease and its impact? What are the psychological and physical consequences of disease on individuals and societies? Are the analyzed works dystopian or based on historical events? How do they represent humanity’s fear of individual and collective suffering and death?
You can find the Call for Papers for the entire conference [here](https://cfplist.com/nemla//User/ViewProposals) (after logging in). For questions about the session please contact the chair, Giordano Mazza, at gmazza3@uic.edu. Submit your abstract with a brief bio [here](https://cfplist.com/nemla/Home/S/21254) by September 30, 2024.
Thank you,
Giordano Mazza
Giordano Mazza
