CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
Volume 8, Issue 2 (Winter 2025)
Decadence and the Fairy Tale
In collaboration with the Decadence Research Centre at Goldsmiths and the British Association of Decadence Studies (BADS); guest edited by Eleanor Keane (Goldsmiths) and Dr James Dowthwaite (Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz).
Following on from the ‘Decadence and the Fairy Tale’ symposium held at Goldsmiths in March 2023, the Winter 2025 special issue of Volupté will explore the varied representations and forms of the decadent fairy tale.
Spanning a wide range of mediums such as text, visual art, theatre, and film, the decadent fairy tale developed into a significant genre integral to fin de siècle culture, and endured to influence early twentieth-century literature and art, as well as postmodern interpretations of the fairy tale tradition. Writers and artists closely associated with the decadence mined the rich vein of the fairy tale tradition for inspiration, and approached the fairy tale as a means to encode both decadent tropes and subversive imagery of social transgression and unconventionality. For writers such as Oscar Wilde, Arthur Machen, Jean Lorrain (Paul Alexandre Martin Duval), Renée Vivien (Pauline Mary Tarn), and Rachilde (Marguerite Eymery Vallette), and artists such as Aubrey Beardsley and Harry Clarke, the fairy tale offered a unique and imaginative opportunity to subvert its associations with innocence and morality, and engage with occultism, mysticism, queerness, and sexual dissidence.
This special issue aims to offer new insights into the decadent fairy tale, demonstrate the engagement of decadent writers, artists and creatives with the genre, and explore the influence of the decadent fairy tale on modern interpretations.
We welcome papers on any aspect of the decadent fairy tale including, but not limited to:
• Queer interpretations of the decadent fairy tale
• The influence of the decadent fairy tale upon the visual arts and illustration
• Gender and the body in the decadent fairy tale
• Feminist readings of the decadent fairy tale
• The legacy of the decadent fairy tale
• The decadent fairy tale on the stage
• The fairy tale and decadent mysticism
• The decadent fairy tale across cultures
• Historical developments of the decadent fairy tale
We also welcome proposals for creative pieces (e.g. short fiction, poetry, artwork) inspired or influenced by the decadent fairy tale.
Articles should be about 6-7,000 words in length, including endnotes, and book reviews should be no more than 2000 words. All textual material must be in Microsoft Word format and follow the MHRA Style Guide.
To submit, please send your article and a brief bio of 100 words to volupte@gold.ac.uk by 30 September 2025.
