The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) is an prestigious annual scholarly conference devoted to all aspects of the fantastic (broadly defined) as it appears in literature, film, and the other arts. ICFA is organized by the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA).
The 35th edition March is held between 19th-23rd of March, 2014 at the Orlando Airport Marriott, Orlando, Florida, USA.
Guests of Honor: Nnedi Okorafor, Ian McDonald
Guest Scholar: Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr.
Special Guest Emeritus: Brian Aldiss
“From space operas to medieval tales to seminal works of fantasy, imaginative fiction abounds in fabulous empires. ICFA 35 is investigating the widest range of topics relating to empire, including discussions of particular texts, analyses of the hegemonic and counterhegemonic forces of empire, evaluations of individual resistances to imperialism (and of empires striking back), and assays into various other aspects of the theme. The scholarly papers and panels will seek to examine, interrogate, and expand any research related to empire and the fantastic.
In addition to essays examining our honored Guests’ work, conference papers are considering specific fantastic empires, imaginative imperial fantasies, the semiotics of empire, fantastic diasporas and migrations, margins and liminal space(s), media empires, technologies of empire, speculative post-nationalism, fantastic Others, myth and empire, geographical/ideological mapping, transnational trauma, the construction/constriction of identity, or the multiple metaphors of empire. Panels will discuss various theories of empire, postcolonialism and the fantastic, language and imperialism, cosmopolitanism in the actual cosmos, Orientalism in classic texts, horrific hordes in film, dystopian empires, or postmodern theory and empire.”
http://iafa.highpoint.edu/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/35th-Annual-ICFA-Program-Draft-v2.pdf
“The purpose of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts (IAFA) is to promote and recognize achievement in the study of the fantastic, mainly through the organization and management of an annual academic conference, the International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA). IAFA also publishes the Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, which is a peer-reviewed journal for scholarship within the field of the fantastic, and the news blog on the site (under News in the menu), which publishes information relevant to the IAFA membership.”
