GfF Conference: "Violence and the Fantastic" / "Gewalt und die Fantastik"

This year's annual conference of the Gesellschaft für Fantastikforschung e.V. (GfF) is jointly organized by JProf. Dr. Judith Rauscher (U of Cologne), Verena Wurth (U of Cologne), and Aylin Walder (TU Braunschweig).

Deadline Proposals: Monday, June 1, 2026

You will be notified of the outcome of your proposal by the end of June.

Contact: american-studies[at]uni-koeln.de

Violence and the Fantastic

Violence is an underlying structural element in fantastic narratives. Whether through depictions of intergalactic wars, epic battles, magical duels, monstrous creatures, heroic warriors, dystopian surveillance regimes, apocalyptic landscapes, conquests and systems of exploitation, physical assaults, psychological transgressions, or more subtle forms of abusive power: the fantastic explores violence in all its forms – as a destructive force, a threat to self and community, an expression of crisis, a tool of empowerment, a metaphor and an aesthetic device, and a driving force for/of narrative dynamics. At the same time, the fantastic, like the speculative, creates spaces where violence can be exaggerated, alienated, deferred, transformed, or renegotiated. Fantastic media allow for the exploration of what constitutes violence in different contexts, how and by whom violence is legitimized in various situations, and when it is deemed unacceptable. The fantastic sheds light on unequal power relations and structures that promote violence, highlights social and moral conflicts, and provides opportunities to imagine alternative forms of resistance – including nonviolent ones.

This conference explores how fantastic and speculative media portray, glorify, and critically reflect upon violence, how they use it for aesthetic effect, and negotiate it culturally. We invite contributions examining literary texts, comics, films, television shows, music, video games, board games, and live-action role-playing games. Presentations may be given in German or English.

For more information, see the Call for Papers in German and English.