Blues in the 21st Century

Call for Papers

We invite contributions on themes that may include (but are not limited to): - The Blues in film and media, or social media - Performers and performance (current or historical perspectives) - Typologies of Blues performance (festivals, street music, busking, etc.) - Socio-political phenomena, music of protest - History and cultural heritage, African roots, etc. - Impact on literature and other cultural forms - Urban/rural musical contexts and identities - White and black identity issues - Forms of audience participation - Musical travel and forms of tourism linked to the Blues - Blues and Gender - Blues and kindred/related styles - Future of the Blues (e.g. Rap, etc.) - National scenes and their differences/analogies - Blues and Marketing (foundations, awards, challenges) The conference will be held in Catania, at the Department of Political and Social Sciences, University of Catania (http://www.dsps.unict.it/), from 23-24 November, 2018. Abstracts of not more than 250 words should be sent, by 30 June 2018 to Uwe Zagratzki (uwe.zagratzki@uni-oldenburg.de) and Douglas Mark Ponton (dponton@unict.it). Please indicate your name, professional/academic affiliations, a postal address and email. Authors will be informed of the outcome of the selection process by 15 July. Selected contributions will be included in a peer-reviewed volume for publication.