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"What's in the box?" Dean Winchester asks in "The Magnificent Seven,"
episode one of the third season of *Supernatural*, to the befuddlement
of his brother Sam and their avuncular mentor Bobby Singer, but to the
delight of fans who revel in the show's wry meta elements.

Dean is of course quoting Detective Mills, Brad Pitt's character in the
thriller *Se7en* (1995), directed by David Fincher. Throughout its
twelve-year run (to date), *Supernatural* has revelled in breaking out
of the limitations usually implied by a television show, breaking out of
the box in numerous ways. Acknowledging the popularity of the meta-play
in the show, current showrunner Andrew Dabb promised the most
meta-finale ever for the season twelve finale.

One of the most noteworthy examples of this predilection is the
extensively meta elements of the season five apocalypse plotline, which
featured the character Carver Edlund (his name derived from series
writers Jeremy Carver and Ben Edlund) in several episodes. Edlund is a
novelist who has written supposed works of fiction that in fact document
Sam and Dean Winchester's lives, thoroughly breaking the fourth wall.
Edlund is the pseudonym of Chuck Shurley---who turns out to be God,
making one of his rare mainstream television appearances. However, this
meta plot element represents only one of the myriad ways *Supernatural*
has broken out of the box. Season five, episode eight ("Changing
Channels"), transports Sam and Dean into the worlds of several
television shows, while season six, episode fifteen, "The French
Mistake," carried the conceit further, having Sam and Dean visit the
"real" world, in which they are characters in the TV show
*Supernatural*. Season eight and nine feature as main villain the
appropriately-named Metatron, the scribe of God trying to write himself
into the position of God---in effect plotting in both senses of the
word. Season eight also featured, in episode 8 ("Hunteri Heroici"),
Warner Brothers style cartoon gimmickry, and the upcoming season
thirteen promises an animated crossover episode with Scooby Doo. Season
ten's 200^th^ episode is yet another recursive metanarrative, featuring
a highschool student trying to mount a musical adaptation of the Carver
Edlund novels.

In short, despite its horror trappings, *Supernatural* has been
decidedly postmodern in its liberal use of pastiche, meta,
intertextuality, and generic slippage. This collection is interested in
exploring the ways *Supernatural* breaks boundaries. Topics of potential
interest include but are not limited to

- Explicitly meta elements in *Supernatural*
- *Supernatural* and fandom: interpenetrations
- God, Metatron, and other *Supernatural* authors
- Role and role-playing
- Generic slippage (comedy; found footage; the musical episode)
- Allusion and intertext in *Supernatural*
- Canonicity
- Non-*Supernatural* (e.g. the episodes with no fantasy elements)
- *Supernatural*  and genre TV
- reality and retcon: how the show has shifted and redefined its own
  rules
- casting and self-consciousness (e.g. the use of celebrity guest stars
  such as Linda Blair, Rick Springfield, etc.)
- Importance of music throughout the show

Proposals of 300-500 words should be submitted to Lisa Macklem
([lmacklem1@gmail.com](mailto:lmacklem1@gmail.com){target="_blank"
rel="nofollow"}) or Dominick Grace
([dgrace2@uwo.ca](mailto:dgrace2@uwo.ca){target="_blank"
rel="nofollow"}) by **October 1 2017**.

Final papers should be between 5,000 and 7,000 words long and written in
conformity with MLA style and will be due by May 1 2018. McFarland has
expressed interest in this collection, with a contract forthcoming.


“What’s in the box?” Dean Winchester asks in “The Magnificent Seven,” episode one of the third season of
<em>
 Supernatural
</em>
, to the befuddlement of his brother Sam and their avuncular mentor Bobby Singer, but to the delight of fans who revel in the show’s wry meta elements. Dean is of course quoting Detective Mills, Brad Pitt’s character in the thriller
<em>
 Se7en
</em>
(1995), directed by David Fincher.

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

CfP: Breaking out of the Box: Critical Essays on the Cult TV Show Supernatural