(1:47 PM) | Adam Kotsko:

Call for Abstracts: "Radiohead and Philosophy"

Call for Abstracts – Radiohead And Philosophy: I’m A Reasonable Man, Get Off My Case

Greetings esteemed readers and contributors of The Weblog. I am currently in discussions with Open Court Press on editing a volume in their Popular Culture and Philosophy Series on Radiohead. The tentative title of the volume is listed above. The goal of the volume is to collect a selection of essays by fans of Radiohead who also happen to be critical thinkers engaged in philosophical work. I am especially interested in approaches to their music which reflects a continental sensibility. For instance, I am planning on contributing a chapter investigating OK Computer in light of the concept of alienation found in Marcuse’s One Dimensional Man and Debord’s Society of the Spectacle. Abstracts utilizing thinkers such as Wittgenstein, Merleau-Ponty, Deleuze, Zizek, Agamben, Badiou, and Ranciere in dialogue with Radiohead are to be preferred, but a good ole fashioned Plato vs. Radiohead would not be shunned either. Importantly, these essays will be targeting the cursory student of philosophy who first and foremost is a Radiohead fan, i.e. the armchair philosopher who can’t get enough of “Karma Police.” Thus, the tone of these chapters is decidedly NOT academic – jargon-filled discussions with secondary literature, for instance, will not fit in this book’s setting. Another way to look at this project is to see it as a way to introduce fans of Radiohead’s music to philosophical ideas that dialogue well with the band’s oeuvre. If you are interested in participating, I would recommend looking through The Beatles And Philosophy, Bob Dylan And Philosophy, The Grateful Dead and Philosophy, or Pink Floyd and Philosophy (forthcoming in October) to get an idea as to what kinds of essays have been published in this series before. Unlike most academic essay collections, Open Court’s Popular Culture and Philosophy series does offer the chance to receive compensation for contributing, so there is a definite possibility of receiving a monetary return for your effort. Plus, who doesn’t want to walk through Borders or Barnes & Noble and pull a book off the shelf in the philosophy section that you’re published in? Right now this is an open call for the next few months, but the sooner you send me your abstracts, the likelier the chance they will be included in the project. Please forward your proposed abstract and/or any questions to me at brandon_forbes@hotmail.com.

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