20 – 23 July 2022 at London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London.
Transformation in/of Belief Narratives From Shape-Shifting and Cross-Dressing to Intermediality and Blurring of the Media
Belief narratives encompass a variety of expressions, widely ranging from mythological narratives to legends, rumours, and multiple other genres. They are narrated with various intents, for example to reinforce value or norm, to support an argument, or for entertainment purposes. But belief narratives often undergo transformations for diverse reasons, in varying contexts, the pragmatics of which are often innovative. In oral tradition, for example, the rumour can shift to become a legend, or a memorate may transform into an anecdote. Belief narratives are further transformed through mediatization, and thus become reframed discursively: legends are collected into illustrated books or included in movies, thus enabling a shift in function and manifestation. Myths are visualized into plays or paintings. These transformations also become visible and highly transmissible when adapted into digital environments. Thus, the boundaries between oral, literary, and digital storytelling blur, and contemporary legends and ghost stories become ‘creepypastas’, viral hoaxes, or digital games. Topics concerning diverse transformational processes in belief narratives, including changes of genre, interpretation, context, communication channels/media, and status become relevant. This presents us with crucial questions as to
• what motifs of the belief narrative have changed or are transformed in the process?
• what is preserved and what determines the stability of the motif?
• which new elements of the narrative are created, incorporated, and adapted?
• what aspects might account for the change and how do these transformations impact and influence communities to which they become part of?
Nevertheless, ‘transformation’ as a central theme in belief narratives is the focus of our interest. Therefore, we welcome talks/presentations on the above-mentioned subjects as well as on the following topics
• transformation of dressing and clothes
• cross-dressing
• shapeshifting
• transformation of magical objects and materials.
Proposals for papers should include:
• full name
• e-mail address
• institutional affiliation •
• ISFNR membership status
• title of paper
• up to 250 word abstract
• 150 word bionote
Papers should be a maximum of 20 minutes. Each session will last for an hour and a half, and will comprise three papers followed by up to 30 minutes of discussion. The extended deadline for proposals is 14 February 2022. Please add below, after your abstract, "To be presented in the BNN sessions”. Please send your proposal to
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Proposals will be reviewed by the ISFNR Committee of Belief Narrative Network in cooperation with the organizing committee of the conference, which will send notification of acceptance or rejection by the end of February 2022. The format of the conference (on site OR hybrid) will be decided by February 2022. A preliminary program for the conference will be made available by March 2022.
Conference fees will be set at the following rates:
o Regular member rate: £150 (on site), £100 (on line only)
o Reduced member rate (unemployed colleagues and PhD students): £100 (on
site), £50 (on line)
o Additional fee for non-members: £20 (regular rate), £15 (reduced rate)
Image: SHAPESHIFTING, Emma Kis-Halas, 10th grade student of the Pécsi Művészeti Gimnázium, Szakgimnázium és Technikum, Pécs (Hungary), 2021