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Welcome to the Soap Opera and Serialized Storytelling community! We’re so happy you’re here and we want you take full advantage of the opportunities our new platform provides. Please read over the code of conduct so we can continue to ensure a safe and supportive space for all. Thank you for your dedication to the Popular Culture Association!
Call For Papers
Soap Opera and Serialized Storytelling Area of the Popular Culture Association
As the descendant of the nineteenth-century novel, twentieth and twenty-first radio and television soap opera have long been recognized as sharing their precursor’s reliance on
serialized form to build and sustain audiences. Even as interest in traditional soap operas has begun to flag in some parts of the world, serial form has never been more pervasive. Serialization is utilized by storytellers in literature (from Mark Z. Danielewski’s The Familiar to
DraculaDaily to r/redditserials), film (including George Lucas’s space opera Star Wars and the 007 franchise), streaming media (such as Facebook Watch’s SKAM Austin), and television (from Stranger Things and The Handmaid’s Tale to Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones). Elements of
serialized storytelling are discernible in episodic and even non-serial formats as well.
The Soap Opera and Serialized Storytelling area of the Popular Culture Association welcomes proposals for papers on soap operas, seriality, and serialized narratives across
platforms and mediums. Topics may include (but are not limited to):
Nineteenth-century serialization
the Victorian period and its narrative structures in contemporary culture (neo-Victorianism, “Dickensian” shows such as The Wire, etc.)
the links among Victorian melodrama, the sensation novel, and contemporary soap opera
legacy radio and television soaps that are no longer being produced but made substantial contributions to television history
soap operas currently on the air: from Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai in India to Goede tijden, slechte tijden in the Netherlands and from General Hospital in the United States to
Shortland Street in Aotearoa New Zealand (among many others!)
serialized storytelling in contemporary television, film, and literature
Radionovelas and telenovelas
Reboots (CW’s Dynasty vs. ABC’s Dynasty), remakes (e.g., Şahin Tepesi as a remake of Falcon Crest), reunions (e.g. Stars in the House: Knots Landing Reunion)
Fandom: from online fan forums and fan gatherings (e.g., Southfork Experience Event, etc) to fan texts and fan-led renewal campaigns
theories of seriality
methodologies used to investigate historically specific serial forms
If a show, film, or work of literature encourages you to follow a character or story into the next episode or installment, submit a proposal to the area! All perspectives and methods of inquiry are
welcome. In order to submit a proposal, you must have created a profile on the PCA website and have an active PCA membership. Before submitting your proposal, please familiarize yourself with submission guidelines available at https://pcaaca.org/page/submissionguidelines. Abstracts
should be no more than 250 words.
The annual PCA conference brings together more than 2,000 researchers working on topics in popular culture. Join us in New Orleans, April 8-11, 2026. Submissions typically open in
September and close in November. See https://pcaaca.org for more information about the conference.
Questions? Contact Kevin A. Morrison, Area Chair at SOSS.PCA@yahoo.com
Important Dates to Remember:
- Database opens for Submissions - Sept. 1, 2025
- Early Bird Registration Begins - Sept. 1, 2025
- Deadline for Paper Proposals - Nov. 30, 2025
- Travel Grant Applications Due - Dec. 15, 2025
- Early Bird Registration Ends for Presenters - Dec. 31, 2025
- Regular Registration Begins for Presenters - Jan. 1, 2026
- Travel Grant Decisions / Notifications - Jan. 31, 2026
- Regular Registration Ends for Presenters - Jan. 31, 2026
- Late Registration Starts for Presenters - Feb. 1, 2026
- Preliminary Program draft available - Feb. 6, 2026
Those Presenters Not Registered by Feb. 15 Will be Dropped from the Program
CONFERENCE IN ATLANTA, GA - April 8-11, 2026
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