Arkham\u2019s Souls: A multidisciplinary Analysis of Batman\u2019s Villains and Villainesses<\/em><\/h1>\n(Edited volume \u2013 De Gruyter Comicstudien)<\/p>\n
Why Study the Villains of Gotham?<\/h2>\n
Batman needs no presentations. The World\u2019s Greatest Detective, the Cape Crusader. He is the
\nvengeance, he is the night, he is BATMAN! The shadow of the Bat had reached every popular culture
\ncorner \u2013 and even more. The academy \u2013 the so-called \u201chigh culture\u201d \u2013 did not remain indifferent to
\nthe charm of the Dark Knight: hundreds of monographs, articles, anthologies have been written on
\nThe Batman. Professors, scholars and researchers have analysed his psychology (Batman and
\nPsychology, What\u2019s the Matter with Batman), philosophy (Batman and Philosophy, Batman,
\nSuperman and Philosophy), history (Batman Unmasked), and politics (Politics in Gotham). Even his
\nfans and cosplayer were researched and analysed (Batman: Fan Phenomena). But what about his
\nenemies?
\nOf course, it is not possible to talk about the Cape Crusader without mentioning his variegated
\nrogue gallery. Travis Langley in Batman and Psychology dedicates several \u201cCase Files\u201d to
\nthe analysis of numerous Gotham\u2019s villains. However, Gotham City\u2019s colourful villains and
\nvillainesses are often just a footnote in Batman\u2019s mythos, which is investigated in
\nevery aspect. The attention reserved for the villains is not only less, but it is also, in most
\ncases, bound to Gotham\u2019s hero. From Catwoman to the Penguin, from Mr Freeze to Poison Ivy, Batman\u2019s
\nfoes have received sporadic attention \u2013 if they have ever been considered. Heroes are only as good
\nas their villains, and some argue that the latter drives the plots of superhero narratives (Coogan,
\n2006; David, 2009). A hero is also defined by his villains, and it is particularly true regarding
\nBatman. In many of his enemies, in fact, we find dark reflections of the personality of Batman
\nhimself. The fight against the villains then becomes a fight against himself, against his shadows.
\nThe fascination of the Dark Knight has led to films, television series, and thousands of pages
\nwritten about him. Much of this fascination, it can be argued, is due to his complex and intriguing
\nadversaries. Furthermore, it can be argued that scholarly analyses of Batman\u2013while robust and
\ninformative\u2013are only part of the story of Gotham City. The role of his adversaries in the story-
\n-largely neglected to date\u2013needs to be uncovered through similar analyses. The goal of this
\nproject is to take important steps towards such an uncovering.<\/p>\n
What we are looking for<\/h2>\n
With Arkham\u2019s Souls: A multidisciplinary Analysis of Batman\u2019s Villains<\/em>, we want to give
\nthe villains their merit, investigating their psychology, morality, motivations, symbolism, and
\nphilosophy. As such, the aim is to examine the significance of Batman\u2019s supervillains at the micro
\n(e.g., individual) and macro (e.g., societal, cultural) levels. Examples of questions consistent
\nwith the theme of the project include, but are not limited to, the following:<\/p>\nIs the Joker really insane?
\nDoes Poison Ivy\u2019s environmental battle identify her today as an anti-heroine rather than a
\nvillainess? How many riddles per minute can The Riddler ask? Did the Mad Hatter actually read Lewis
\nCarroll? Is Superman a friend or foe of Batman?
\nCan Harley Quinn be an example of women\u2019s empowerment?
\nWhat kind of relationship bounds Batman\u2019s villains and villainesses to their city? Do any of
\nGotham\u2019s villains serve as commentary on Gotham itself?
\nDo any villains reflect a \u201cbug\u201d of Gotham? A feature?
\nHow might Gotham\u2019s villains be understood by everyday Gotham citizens?
\nIf Gotham changed for the better, would (could) its villains do the same? Do even the most
\ndangerous Batman\u2019s enemies have the possibility of redemption?<\/p>\n
We are looking for papers that specifically analyse one of Batman\u2019s enemies. The approach you
\nchoose can be of various types, philosophical or psychological, anthropological or literary. You
\ncan focus on gender studies as well as cultural studies. It is essential that your proposal is
\noriginal and possibly not yet specifically considered by other studies on the genre.<\/p>\n
The aim for the volume is to be a part of the Comicstudien<\/em> series for De Gruyter. For this reason,
\nwe ask our authors to consider especially (but not only) the comic version of the mentioned
\ncharacters. Final essays in German or English will be 3000-4000 words in length.<\/p>\nPlease send a brief abstract in German or English of 400 words (together with a short bio) by
\nNovember 15th, 2021, to the editors, Justin Martin (just.f.martin@gmail.com) and Marco
\nFavaro (marco-favaro@outlook.it). For more information: LINK<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Call for Chapter Proposals: Arkham\u2019s Souls: A multidisciplinary Analysis of Batman\u2019s Villains and Villainesses (Edited volume \u2013 De Gruyter Comicstudien) Why Study the Villains of Gotham? Batman needs no presentations. The World\u2019s Greatest Detective, the Cape Crusader. He is the vengeance, he is the night, he is BATMAN! The shadow of the Bat had reached […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":38458,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[1040,1518],"class_list":["post-92260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-call-for-papers-2","tag-batman","tag-call-for-papers"],"yoast_head":"\n
#CFP Arkham's Souls<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Call for Chapter Proposals: Arkham\u2019s Souls: A multidisciplinary Analysis of Batman\u2019s Villains and Villainesses (Edited volume \u2013 De Gruyter Comicstudien)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"#CFP Arkham's Souls\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Call for Chapter Proposals: Arkham\u2019s Souls: A multidisciplinary Analysis of Batman\u2019s Villains and Villainesses (Edited volume \u2013 De Gruyter Comicstudien)\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-29T09:03:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-27T15:08:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/719\/2016\/07\/inside-the-church-of-batman.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"489\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"257\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ReligionProf\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"James F. McGrath\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html\",\"name\":\"#CFP Arkham's Souls\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2021-09-29T09:03:24+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-27T15:08:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\"},\"description\":\"Call for Chapter Proposals: Arkham\u2019s Souls: A multidisciplinary Analysis of Batman\u2019s Villains and Villainesses (Edited volume \u2013 De Gruyter Comicstudien)\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"#CFP Arkham’s Souls\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/\",\"name\":\"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath\",\"description\":\"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf\",\"name\":\"James F. McGrath\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"James F. McGrath\"},\"description\":\"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5\",\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf\",\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"#CFP Arkham's Souls","description":"Call for Chapter Proposals: Arkham\u2019s Souls: A multidisciplinary Analysis of Batman\u2019s Villains and Villainesses (Edited volume \u2013 De Gruyter Comicstudien)","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"#CFP Arkham's Souls","og_description":"Call for Chapter Proposals: Arkham\u2019s Souls: A multidisciplinary Analysis of Batman\u2019s Villains and Villainesses (Edited volume \u2013 De Gruyter Comicstudien)","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html","og_site_name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","article_author":"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","article_published_time":"2021-09-29T09:03:24+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-27T15:08:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":489,"height":257,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/719\/2016\/07\/inside-the-church-of-batman.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"James F. McGrath","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ReligionProf","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"James F. McGrath","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html","name":"#CFP Arkham's Souls","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website"},"datePublished":"2021-09-29T09:03:24+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-27T15:08:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf"},"description":"Call for Chapter Proposals: Arkham\u2019s Souls: A multidisciplinary Analysis of Batman\u2019s Villains and Villainesses (Edited volume \u2013 De Gruyter Comicstudien)","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/2021\/09\/cfp-arkhams-souls.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"#CFP Arkham’s Souls"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/","name":"Religion Prof: The Blog of James F. McGrath","description":"The Blog of Dr. James F. McGrath, Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University, Indianapolis","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/78342576667b872e3d259c153ce4c5bf","name":"James F. McGrath","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88ca096942acd474313f7ef4227a49da?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"James F. McGrath"},"description":"Clarence L. Goodwin Chair in New Testament Language and Literature at Butler University in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. BD University of London, PhD Durham University. Author of John's Apologetic Christology, The Only True God, Theology and Science Fiction, and The Burial of Jesus, as well as (with Charles Haberl of Rutgers University) the two-volume Mandaean Book of John critical edition, translation, and commentary. Also author of numerous articles (and a few science fiction short stories) and the editor or co-editor of several volumes.","sameAs":["https:\/\/amzn.to\/3Ge8ul5","http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/religionprof\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/jamesfmcgrath\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/jfmcgrat\/","https:\/\/twitter.com\/ReligionProf","http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/religionprof","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/James_F._McGrath"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/author\/james-f-mcgrath"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92260"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92260\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/religionprof\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}