CFP: (Chapter Abstracts) German Romantic Humour (Aug. 1, 2025)

CFP: (Chapter Abstracts) German Romantic Humour (Aug. 1, 2025)

Call for Chapter Abstracts

Due: August 1, 2025

Subject fields: German Romanticism, Humour Studies, Philosophy, Literature Studies, Musicology, Art History, History of Religion

This is a call for abstracts for book chapters to be included in an edited volume on “German Romantic Humour”

Edited by Dr. Pascale LaFountain (Montclair State University, USA)

From anecdote to satire, parody to comic mockery, German Romantic creators use humour as a uniquely productive way to critique, rebel, entertain, play, and resist. German Romanticism would not be what it was without humour, and conversely, today’s humour landscape would not be what it is without the exceptional contributions of German Romantic humour.

The book “German Romantic Humour” will provide practical considerations of humour across various textual genres, artistic representations, musical materials, philosophical perspectives, and other manifestations. By exploring a wide spectrum of humour, German Romantic Humour will suggest a more subtle understanding of the concept of humour in German Romanticism and beyond.

The editor is looking for scholars of German Romanticism in various fields to contribute to a book considering humour as a fundamental element in German Romantic creative production. Each chapter will begin by engaging with a particular genre or aspect of Romanticism before providing a case study of how a specific work has contributed to the production, performance, or consideration of humour across various means.

Abstracts will be considered from literary and performance studies, art history, musicology, philosophy, religious studies, etc. Comparative and interdisciplinary approaches welcome.

Publication plans:

-       The concept for this book has already been accepted for the series “Humour in Literature and Culture” published by Routledge Press.

-       Abstract submission deadline – August 1, 2025.

-       Abstracts are subject to review by editors and accepted versions will be included in a full proposal to go to the editors and publishers in September 2025.

-       After approval, authors will be asked to provide 8,000-word articles (including footnotes and works cited) to be submitted for review by May 1, 2026, with peer review process to follow and target publication in 2027.

-       Plans for a Fall 2026 German Studies Association panel or seminar are also in the works.

If interested, please email a 250-500-word abstract (with a brief CV) to Dr. Pascale LaFountain (Montclair State University, USA) [email protected] August 1, 2025.