I wrote to Peter to ask for a little clarification (some of which I have inserted above), given that not all of us have experience in presenting papers at a symposium, and might need some guidence about what is expected, and how much is needed for a talk lasting 20 minutes, etc.
His reply is below:
Thanks very much for your message. I realize that explaining potentially intimidating academic jargon is important when trying to create bridges!
The organizers of the 'symposium' (read: 'day-long discussion') arranged a Sherlock Holmes conference this summer which similarly brought together academics and a wider community of enthusiasts. The conference programme (see here) will give you a better idea about the wide range of paper topics that might be suitable.
As a day-long 'symposium', rather being held over two days, the Tintin event will be smaller, so may have to be a little more selective about papers.
I can answer the questions about abstracts as both a long-time Tintin fan and early-career academic in Renaissance literature with conference-going experience.
My general advice would be that papers (i.e. talks or presentations) should have a fairly specific theme, and should try to say something new that others attending can discuss and learn from, rather than just being celebrations of Hergé's achievement (though, of course, there is a place for that too...).
Asking a question at the start of the paper that you then answer in the remainder of the time is often a good way to approach it.
Interesting observations, new theories or ideas, or some rarely-discussed aspect of the adventures and their legacy might all be good topics.
The abstract is just meant to summarize what the paper will be about.
There's no set formula, but for someone who's never written one I'd recommend including the following:
· what the main question or point of the paper is in one sentence, with a longer explanation that in a little more detail;
· what the background is for making the point (What does the person reading it need to know? Who else has thought about the issue?; Why is it interesting?)
· what evidence will be discussed to make the point (e.g. which adventures); and
· what the rough structure will be (perhaps dividing the time up into smaller sections to help the audience follow it).
I find that a twenty-minute paper is about 3000 words if written down. If twenty minutes seems a long time, then joint papers presented by two people are definitely an option.
In regard to the question of copyright, the organizers are talking with Moulinsart at the moment about using images for advertising the event, and the use of pictures during talks will also have to come up.
Displaying copyright pictures as illustrations during a one-off presentation tends to count as 'fair use', but this is something we will need to check and confirm.
Copyright for the written content of the talk remains with the creator, i.e. whoever writes it. Illustrations in a potential book is a different matter completely, but that's a long way off.
I hope this is helpful! Please let me know if any of it doesn't make sense, or if you have more questions.
I would be very happy to provide informal advice about possible topics and abstracts: anyone should feel welcome to email me at the conference address with general ideas who isn't sure whether they'd like to suggest giving a paper or not.
All the best,
PeterSo, thinking caps on, everybody!
