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Introductions - Ashley

Hello all!

Thanks for checking out our CFP website, and thanks for your interest in sexy zombies!

I've decided to update the website with a blog to allow you all to get to know your editors. I'm going to make the first post and explain a little about myself.

I am currently an adjunct instructor of English at Weber State University in northern Utah. I earned my M.A. from this institution in May of 2015. I anticipate starting my doctoral program in the near future. Initially, my research emphasized Victorian literature and culture. However, the transition to popular culture and depictions of monsters makes sense becuase my research focus was monster literature of the late nineteenth-century. My master's thesis examined taxonomies of deformity, disease, and crime in texts like Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Dracula, and The Picture of Dorian Gray. I've always loved monsters and monster movies, so deciding to incorporate it into my academic reasearch was a no-brainer.

During my graduate program, I began looking in much more modern depcitions of monsters--particularly those which presented the monster in an attractive or desireable way. Why have we romanticized monstrosity? This was my primary concern. Throughout this process, I would often discuss these ideas with my colleague (and the co-editor of this volume) Jessica. Jessica--who will likely introduce herself soon--tends to consider television, film, and visual narrative in the context of social anxiety or commentary. So, our conversations would involve a great deal of popular culture content and examinations of how the pop culture landscape shifts to reveal current trends and anxieties.

iZombie is the show that started all of this.

A new hit series on The CW, the show follows zombie protagonist Liv Moore as she navigates her new, undead existence. Part medical examiner, part consulting detective, Liv uses her zombie skills (accessing memories of murder victims via brain consumption) to help a local police detective solve crimes in her town of Seattle, WA. While being very much zombified, Liv also gets to be very attractive (see photo) and have a litany of zombie and human suitors--all of whom are also very attractive.

This over sexualization of the zombie monster intrigued both of us, and we continued to have discussions about each new episode of the series. This developed into a paper, conference presentation, and failed submission to the Chronicle of Higher Education. However, McFarland was deeply interested in our examinations and the rest, as they say, is history.

Our vision for this collection (though outlined in detail on the "Call for Proposals" page) is clear: how have we modernized the zombie creature to make them a desireable romantic partner? Why is this happening? And what does it mean for the zombie genre? Whereas the romantic vampire seems to make sense with their immortality and eternal youth, how does the decaying zombie corpse translate into the "six pack abs and sex life" model of zombiism today? We hope you are willing to help us navigate this sea of questions.

We are looking for abstracts by May 15th that propose specific article length discussions of the romantic zombie and/or the place of romance in the zombie apocalypse space. To submit proposals and inquire about topics, please email us at romancingthezombie@gmail.com.

Until next time,

Ashley


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