{"id":2840,"date":"2022-11-15T19:53:32","date_gmt":"2022-11-15T18:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/?p=2840"},"modified":"2022-11-15T19:53:32","modified_gmt":"2022-11-15T18:53:32","slug":"armistead-maupins-tales-of-the-city-tales-of-a-transmedia-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/cfp\/armistead-maupins-tales-of-the-city-tales-of-a-transmedia-experience\/2840\/","title":{"rendered":"Armistead Maupin\u2019s Tales of the City: Tales of a Transmedia Experience?"},"content":{"rendered":"

CALL FOR PAPERS<\/p>\n

Armistead Maupin\u2019s Tales of the City: Tales of a Transmedia Experience?
\n\/
\nTales of the City d\u2019Armistead Maupin : chroniques d\u2019une exp\u00e9rience transm\u00e9dia ?<\/p>\n

17\/18 novembre 2023 \/ November 17-18, 2023<\/p>\n

Universit\u00e9 Sorbonne Nouvelle
\nEA CREW & EA PRISMES<\/p>\n

Maison de la Recherche, Salle Ath\u00e9na,
\n4 rue des Irlandais, 75005 Paris<\/p>\n

Comit\u00e9 d\u2019organisation \/Main organizers: Cl\u00e9mentine Tholas, Dennis Tredy, Aliette Vent\u00e9joux<\/p>\n

Comit\u00e9 scientifique \/Scientific Committee: Charles Joseph (Le Mans Universit\u00e9), Ronan Ludot Vlasak (Universit\u00e9 Sorbonne Nouvelle), Guillaume Marche (Universit\u00e9 Paris-Est Cr\u00e9teil), S\u00e9bastien Mignot (Universit\u00e9 de Caen), Karen Ritzenhoff (Central Connecticut State University), Cl\u00e9mentine Tholas (Universit\u00e9 Sorbonne Nouvelle), Dennis Tredy (Universit\u00e9 Sorbonne Nouvelle), Aliette Vent\u00e9joux (Universit\u00e9 Jean Monnet)<\/p>\n

Please scroll down for French version<\/p>\n

[EN] Could one go so far as to call Armistead Maupin the \u2018queer Emile Zola\u2019 of the 20th Century? Could Tales of the City itself, along with its 46-year legacy of adaptations and influence\u2014from daily newspaper columns to TV series to novels and stage musicals\u2014be considered akin to the all-encompassing family chronicle that Les Rougon-Macquart seemed to represent for its time? If Maupin has already been compared to Trollope, Dickens and other Victorian authors for his opting to use a serial literary format (Warhol, 1999), this same feature would also strengthen a possible parallel to Zola, even more so as Tales of the City also traces a family history that is closely intertwined with the historical events of their time. As Maupin points out, the members of the \u2018family\u2019 he created may not be blood relations, but they are nevertheless a logical and clearly defined family unit based on love and other emotional ties. The chronicle of this close-knit community\u2014one that brings together gay, lesbian, transgender and heterosexual individuals\u2014has developed in lockstep with ongoing changes in America itself, making it a comedy of manners grounded in, and reflected by, its own time.
\nThere are few works that bring together as many literary sub-genres as Tales of the City does, for Maupin\u2019s work could be seen as part coming-of-age story, part fairytale, part picaresque adventure, part travel writing, part crime novel, and so on\u2014all held together by a healthy dose of humor (Brousse, 1996). Even though Maupin\u2019s work may not be considered \u2018highbrow literature\u2019 (Klein-Scholz, 2017), it is a landmark work of popular culture that also broke barriers through its reiterations over the years in different formats and through different media.
\nThis transmedia chronicle began in 1976 with the original series of Maupin\u2019s 800-word daily columns in The San Francisco Chronicle and continued in 1978 with the publication of his first novel adapted from those newspaper columns; this two-fold approach would be reinforced by the author with four more adapted novels published by 1987, along with a sixth novel in 1989 that was not directly inspired by his newspaper column. This first series of six novels (Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You) was then adapted in 1993 as an Anglo-American TV series (16 episodes over three seasons) for both Channel 4 in the U.K. and PBS in the U.S. Maupin would later launch a second era for the work, with three more novels (Michael Tolliver Lives, Mary Ann in Autumn, The Days of Anna Madrigal) that were published between 2007 and 2014. In 2011, the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco produced a stage adaptation based on the first three novels, and soon after that the BBC proposed a series of radio adaptations based on Maupin\u2019s nine novels, from 2013 to 2017. The most recent reiteration of Maupin\u2019s work is the 2019 Netflix limited series, based essentially on Mary Ann in Autumn. With the death\u2014both in print and on screen\u2014of the character Anna Madrigal, the transgender matriarch of this unconventional \u2018family dynasty\u2019, it seems that this transmedial adventure may have come to an end\u2014even though Maupin might very well have another trick up his sleeve. In any case, it seems like the perfect time to take stock in this seemingly completed multimedia opus.
\nThe multifaceted nature of Maupin\u2019s saga has allowed him to reach myriad reading and viewing audiences\u2014readers of newspapers as well as those of novels, TV viewers, radio audiences and theatergoers of different generations, all either discovering or rediscovering Maupin\u2019s fictional world. Just as the books have led audiences and creative teams to their adaptations, the adaptations have in turn sent audiences back to the novels. Together, this network of storytelling methods has served as a sort of guidebook for those looking to have a fuller understanding of the LGBTQIA+ community and culture, notably for heterosexual, liberal and even more conservative audiences (Kellerman, 2016). Maupin has long sought to demystify LGBTQIA+ representations, making them more relatable, less scandalous and less frightening to newcomers\u2014even admittedly boring at times (Maupin, 1987). The inherent seriality of both the written and audiovisual formats allows for repeated access over time to the community represented, thereby chipping away at its supposed \u2018otherness\u2019 while showcasing a vast array of gender identities, challenging\u2014often with a touch of irreverence and fantasy\u2014heteronormative codes, and thereby pushing audiences to overcome their prejudices (Warhol, 1999). The author himself has insisted on the work\u2019s inclusive nature (\u201cI was covering everybody; it was gay and straight, young and old,\u201d Maupin, 2011), and it is this openness that has greatly helped much of so-called \u201ctraditional\u201d society to both get to know and to accept the LGBTQIA+ community. Taking things even further, Maupin even managed to include a frank conversation about AIDS, without mincing words, and thereby raise awareness both at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic and throughout the impact it has had since the 1980s, and allowing audiences a better understanding of the effects of the disease both on individuals and on society as a whole (Warhol, Klein-Scholz).
\nHowever, if the popularity and impact of this multiform opus seems undeniable, one may wonder why it has not more frequently been the subject of scholarly research. This conference aims to help bridge that gap and to fully understand the importance of the transmedial nature of Maupin\u2019s opus. In addition to its varied appeal and tone (journalistic, literary, televisual, sociological, documentary and\/or militant), there is also the matter of its mix of literary genres and influences, its serial form of storytelling, its varied adaptation formats and methods, the co-existence of such varied narrative forms, or the construction and development of shared characters and storylines across these myriad works. There is also the issue of the multiform work\u2019s impact on successive generations of audiences, representations of minorities over time, the educational value of each contribution, the level of political engagement expressed in a given reiteration, Maupin\u2019s own role as a perceived spokesperson for the LGBTQIA+ community, Tales of the City\u2019s impact both on mainstream and on LGBTQIA+ culture, international differences in how the works have been received, or even the effect that fandom has had on the works longevity and continued adaptation. There are indeed vast areas of research to explore.
\nPaper proposals for the conference (in English or in French) should be no longer than 300 words. Submissions should be accompanied with a short biography that includes a few key publications and should be sent to clementine.tholas, dennis.tredy, alietteventejoux by 24 March, 2023.<\/p>\n

[FR] Serait-il trop os\u00e9 de qualifier Armistead Maupin de Zola queer du XXe si\u00e8cle ? Est-ce que Tales of the City \/ Les Chroniques de San Francisco, qui se d\u00e9clinent depuis 46 ans du feuilleton journalistique quotidien aux s\u00e9ries t\u00e9l\u00e9vis\u00e9es en passant par le roman et la com\u00e9die musicale, ne seraient pas comparables, dans une certaine mesure, \u00e0 la grande fresque familiale des Rougon-Macquart suppos\u00e9s personnifier l\u2019\u00e9poque ? D\u00e9j\u00e0 compar\u00e9 \u00e0 Trollope ou Dickens et \u00e0 la tradition litt\u00e9raire victorienne en raison de son choix du format s\u00e9riel (Warhol, 1999), Maupin pourrait \u00e9galement \u00eatre rapproch\u00e9 d\u2019Emile Zola pour leur travail commun de feuilletonistes et du fait que Tales of the City couvre l\u2019histoire d\u2019une famille dont le destin est m\u00eal\u00e9 \u00e0 la grande Histoire \u2013 une famille certes non biologique mais logique, construite, choisie par affinit\u00e9 et par amour, comme le souligne l\u2019auteur. Les chroniques de cette communaut\u00e9 de c\u0153ur r\u00e9unissant des gays, des lesbiennes, des personnes transgenres ainsi qu\u2019h\u00e9t\u00e9rosexuelles s\u2019\u00e9crivent au fur et \u00e0 mesure des \u00e9volutions de l\u2019Am\u00e9rique, comme une com\u00e9die de m\u0153urs ancr\u00e9e dans l\u2019esprit et les probl\u00e9matiques du temps. A la crois\u00e9e de bien des genres litt\u00e9raires, Tales of the City tient du conte, du roman d\u2019apprentissage, des \u00e9crits picaresques, du r\u00e9cit de voyage et offre de nombreuses intrigues polici\u00e8res, le tout enrob\u00e9 d\u2019une bonne dose d\u2019humour (Brousse, 1996). Bien que l\u2019\u0153uvre de Maupin ne soit pas consid\u00e9r\u00e9e comme de la litt\u00e9rature \u00ab s\u00e9rieuse \u00bb (Klein-Scholz, 2017), elle n\u2019en demeure pas moins un monument de la culture populaire construit sous diff\u00e9rents formats et par le biais de m\u00e9dias compl\u00e9mentaires.
\nCette aventure transm\u00e9dia commence en 1976 avec la parution de chroniques journali\u00e8res de huit-cents mots dans le San Francisco Chronicle et se poursuit par la publication en 1978 du premier roman adapt\u00e9 des articles remani\u00e9s ; ce double support perdure jusqu\u2019en 1987 avec cinq romans, un dernier qui n\u2019est pas tir\u00e9 d\u2019articles venant s\u2019ajouter en 1989. La premi\u00e8re s\u00e9rie de six romans (Tales of the City, More Tales of the City, Further Tales of the City, Babycakes, Significant Others, Sure of You) est adapt\u00e9e en 1993 en une s\u00e9rie t\u00e9l\u00e9vis\u00e9e de seize \u00e9pisodes r\u00e9partis en trois saisons, co-production am\u00e9ricano-britannique port\u00e9e par Channel 4 et PBS. \u00c0 cette premi\u00e8re p\u00e9riode de l\u2019\u0153uvre, succ\u00e8de une deuxi\u00e8me vague de trois romans (Michael Tolliver Lives, Mary Ann in Autumn, The Days of Anna Madrigal), publi\u00e9s entre 2007 et 2014. En 2011, une com\u00e9die musicale voit le jour \u00e0 l\u2019American Conservatory Theater de San Francisco, s\u2019inspirant des trois premiers volumes de la saga, tandis qu\u2019en 2013 la BBC propose une adaptation radiophonique. La derni\u00e8re extension en date est la mini-s\u00e9rie Netflix, sortie en 2019 et bas\u00e9e sur Mary Ann in Autumn. M\u00eame si, connaissant Maupin, un rebondissement n\u2019est jamais \u00e0 exclure, on peut consid\u00e9rer l\u2019ensemble de l\u2019\u0153uvre achev\u00e9e puisqu\u2019Anna Madrigal, la matriarche transgenre de cette dynastie non-conventionnelle, s\u2019\u00e9teint dans les livres comme \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9cran, ce qui renforce l\u2019importance d\u2019\u00e9tudier une \u0153uvre compos\u00e9e de multiples s\u00e9ries arriv\u00e9es \u00e0 leur terme.
\nLa d\u00e9clinaison prot\u00e9iforme de la saga lui permet de s\u00e9duire plusieurs types de lectorat (journalistique, romanesque) ainsi que des spectateurs et spectatrices d\u00e9couvrant ou red\u00e9couvrant l\u2019univers de Maupin par le biais de l\u2019audiovisuel \u00e0 diff\u00e9rentes \u00e9poques. Les livres am\u00e8nent aux adaptations, les adaptations ram\u00e8nent aux livres. Tous les supports concourent \u00e0 guider le n\u00e9ophyte vers une meilleure compr\u00e9hension de la culture LGBTQIA+, se proposant de familiariser avec celle-ci un public h\u00e9t\u00e9rosexuel, lib\u00e9ral ou conservateur (Kellerman, 2016). Maupin cherche \u00e0 d\u00e9mythifier les repr\u00e9sentations de l\u2019homosexualit\u00e9, en la rendant moins effrayante ou scandaleuse, voire en la peignant comme ennuyeuse (Maupin, 1987). En utilisant \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9crit le format s\u00e9riel, qui se r\u00e9p\u00e8te ensuite \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9cran, il souhaite habituer son lectorat \u00e0 l\u2019inconnu, donner \u00e0 voir la diversit\u00e9 des identit\u00e9s sexuelles et changer les id\u00e9es pr\u00e9con\u00e7ues sur ce qui est sexuellement et socialement normal, en d\u00e9fiant avec irr\u00e9v\u00e9rence et fantaisie les codes h\u00e9t\u00e9ronorm\u00e9s (Warhol, 1999). Revendiqu\u00e9e comme une \u0153uvre inclusive par son cr\u00e9ateur (\u00ab I was covering everybody ; it was gay and straight, young and old \u00bb, Maupin, 2011), Tales of the City soul\u00e8ve la question de la rencontre et de l\u2019acceptation de la communaut\u00e9 LGBTQIA+ par la soci\u00e9t\u00e9 dite traditionnelle. En outre, Maupin s\u2019illustre aussi par son audace d\u2019incorporer le sujet du sida \u00e0 son \u00e9pop\u00e9e san-franciscaine, sans parler \u00e0 demi-mots, et ce, afin d\u2019\u00e9veiller une prise de conscience sur les d\u00e9buts de l\u2019\u00e9pid\u00e9mie et son \u00e9volution, et d\u2019\u00e9duquer la population sur un syndrome dont les effets se font sentir au niveau collectif comme individuel (Warhol, Klein-Scholz).
\nSi le succ\u00e8s populaire de l\u2019\u0153uvre, tant par le biais des articles et des livres que de leurs adaptations vari\u00e9es, n\u2019est plus \u00e0 prouver, on peut se demander pourquoi le microcosme de Tales of the City a fait l\u2019objet d\u2019un nombre aussi limit\u00e9 de travaux universitaires. Ce colloque vise \u00e0 comprendre les enjeux de cette s\u00e9rie de nature multiple, qu\u2019ils soient journalistiques, litt\u00e9raires, t\u00e9l\u00e9visuels, sociologiques, documentaires ou encore militants. Il conviendra de s\u2019interroger, entre autres sujets, sur la question des genres et h\u00e9ritages litt\u00e9raires, les narrations s\u00e9rielles, l\u2019adaptation, la multiplication des supports narratifs, la construction et l\u2019\u00e9volution des personnages dans un contexte de cr\u00e9ation aussi large, la compr\u00e9hension g\u00e9n\u00e9rationnelle de la saga, les repr\u00e9sentations des minorit\u00e9s, l\u2019engagement, la dimension p\u00e9dagogique ou encore la vis\u00e9e politique d\u2019une telle \u0153uvre, le r\u00f4le de Maupin comme porte-parole plus ou moins efficace de la communaut\u00e9 LGBTQIA+, la port\u00e9e de Tales of the City dans la culture mainstream et dans la culture LGBTQIA+, la r\u00e9ception am\u00e9ricaine et internationale de cette fresque, l\u2019impact de la culture de fan sur la long\u00e9vit\u00e9 de l\u2019\u0153uvre.<\/p>\n

Les propositions (en anglais ou en fran\u00e7ais) d\u2019une longueur maximale de 300 mots et courte notice bio-bibliographique sont \u00e0 envoyer \u00e0 clementine.tholas, dennis.tredy, alietteventejoux, avant le 24 mars 2023.<\/p>\n

Bibliographie \/Bibliography
\nBecker, Ron. Gay TV and Straight America. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2006.
\nBram, Christopher, and La Roch\u00e8re C\u00e9cile de. Anges batailleurs: les \u00e9crivains gay en Am\u00e9rique, de Tennessee Williams \u00e0 Armistead Maupin. Paris: Grasset, 2013.
\nBrousse, Fran\u00e7oise. \u201cArmistead Maupin, m\u00e9morialiste.\u201d Revue fran\u00e7aise d\u2019\u00e9tudes am\u00e9ricaines 68.1 (1996): 29\u201339.
\nBrowning, Jimmy D. \u201cSomething to Remember Me By: Maupin\u2019s Tales of the City Novels as Artifacts in Contemporary Gay Folk Culture.\u201d New York folklore 19.1-2 (1993): 71\u201387.
\nCanaday, Margot, Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth Century America, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2009.
\nCaughie,John, Khun, Annette. The Sexual Subject: a Screen Reader in Sexuality. London New York: Routledge, 1992.
\nDyer, Richard. The Culture of Queers. New York: Routledge, 1993.
\nGale, Patrick. Armistead Maupin. Bath, England: Absolute Press, 1999.
\nKellerman, Robert. \u201cGoodbye, Barbary Lane: The Passage of Time in the Recent Novels of Armistead Maupin.\u201d Journal of American culture, 39.1 (2016): 41\u201354
\nKlein-Scholz, Christelle. \u201cA Diachronic Analysis of the Language of AIDS in Armistead Maupin\u2019s Tales of the City.\u201d ASp 71 (2017): 179\u2013171.
\nMaupin, Armistead. \u201cA Talk with Armistead Maupin\u201d, with Tom Spain. Publishers Weekly 231.11 (1987): 53-54.
\nMaupin, Armistead. \u201cThis Week: Tales of the City\u201d, KQED, May, 2011.https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9Ks-zvIiUO0&ab_channel=KQED<\/a> (retrieved on October 20th, 2022)
\nRusso, Vito. The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies. New York: Harper and Row, 1987.
\nWarhol, Robyn R. \u201cMaking \u2018Gay\u2019 and \u2018Lesbian\u2019 into Household Words: How Serial Form Works in Armistead Maupin\u2019s \u2018Tales of the City.\u2019\u201d Contemporary literature 40.3 (1999): 378\u2013402.<\/p>\n

Source: Cl\u00e9mentine Tholas<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CALL FOR PAPERS Armistead Maupin\u2019s Tales of the City: Tales of a Transmedia Experience? \/ Tales of the City d\u2019Armistead […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[99],"tags":[1116,1117,1115],"class_list":["post-2840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cfp","tag-armistead-maupin","tag-lgbtqia","tag-tales-of-the-city"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Admin","author_link":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/author\/yanb\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"CALL FOR PAPERS Armistead Maupin\u2019s Tales of the City: Tales of a Transmedia Experience? \/ Tales of the City d\u2019Armistead […]","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2840"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2840"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2842,"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2840\/revisions\/2842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afea.fr\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}