Circuses & Circus Culture

• The Popular Culture Association & American Culture Association’s
• 2009 National Conference at New Orleans, Louisiana
• New Orleans Marriott Hotel, located at 555 Canal Street
• Begins on Wednesday, April 8, 2009, at 12:30 p.m.
• Ends on Saturday, April 11, 2009, with last of the panel sessions and films ending around 8:00 p.m.

Deadline for proposal submissions: 30 November 2008.

This will be the twelfth meeting of the Popular Culture Association Circuses and Circus Culture interest group. We invite papers that explore the past and present of circus as art, craft and a unique form of popular culture. Circus, a continuously evolving tradition of live entertainment, lends itself to scholarship from many perspectives.

Some previous papers:

The Jack London Club: The Circus and the Birth of the Animal Rights Movement

Dan Rice, 19 th Century Circus, Twentieth Century Myth

Fools and Horses: The Humour of the Victorian Clown

West Meets East: The Western Impact on Traditional Chinese Circus

The Savage East in the Wild West: Buffalo Bill’s Reenactment of the Boxer Uprising

Too White for Barnum? Race and the White Elephant War of 1884

Images of Female Circus Performers in Painting and Popular Culture

Sacred Play: A Seeker’s Guide to the Circus

Our panels have been diverse and fascinating. We invite you to join us. Send a fifty word abstract of your paper by November 30, 2008 to PCA Circuses and Circus Culture Chair: