Thanks to some academically-minded fans, we’ve learned that Wiley—the publishers of Game of Thrones and Philosophy, which we provided the foreword for (Order: US Paperback, US Kindle, UK)—is tackling A Game of Thrones once more as part of its Pop Culture and History series with a book aptly named A Game of Thrones and History.
On an academic mailing list, a call for papers from academics in history and related fields has gone out, with the book to be edited by Professor Janice Liedl of Laurentian University. You’ll find the full details of the call for papers below; there are some very interesting suggested topics.
*Proposals Due October 5, 2012!*
*Call for Papers: “A Game of Thrones and History” (essay collection)*
*Editor:* Janice Liedl, Laurentian University
*Description:*
We are seeking proposals for essays to be included in an edited collection with the working title of “A Game of Thrones and History,” to be published by Wiley in 2013 as a volume in its *Pop Culture and History *series. We’re looking for essays that elaborate the historical context of G.R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, examining individual characters or aspects of Westeros and other cultures against a historical backdrop, or analyzing how popular historical understandings inform the material. The collection is aimed at a broader audience than is the case for many scholarly collections, and seeks to make visible for readers the underlying use of historical events and culture in “A Game of Thrones”. We welcome submissions from historians or those in cognate disciplines, including gender studies, medieval studies or cultural studies.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
- The Great Houses and the Wars of the Roses
- Historical parallels for Cersei’s queenship
- Pretenders in the Middle Ages
- The Red Wedding and the history of hospitality and betrayal
- What Westeros could learn from Hadrian’s Wall
- How medieval were Daenarys’s dragons?
- The stain of illegitimacy and the bastards of Westeros
- Brienne of Tarth and medieval women at war
- A comparative history of treachery in the royal guard and at the court
- Prostitution in history and in the Seven Kingdoms
- The Old Gods, the Seven, Druids, and Christians
- Nobles, peasants, and social structures in Westeros and medieval Europe
- Marriage bargains and family structures in the Seven Kingdoms: historical parallels
- Medieval masculinities and manhood in the Seven Kingdoms
- Hordes, Heroes, Khans, and Khals: the medieval military cultures of Westeros and Essos
This collection will be published by Wiley Publishing, which will pay contributors an honorarium of $400 for each essay.
Please email a 500-word proposal, a one-page c.v., and contact information to Janice Liedl at jliedl [AT] laurentian.ca
by October 5, 2012.
Notification of accepted proposals will be made by October 15, 2012. Chapter drafts of approximately 5,000 words will be due by January 15, 2013.
*Contact Information:*
Email inquiries are preferred.
Janice Liedl, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of History
Laurentian University
jliedl [AT] laurentian.ca