Call for Papers
CURRENTS NO. 10: POLITICS AND POETICS OF DIFFERENCE:
APPROACHES IN ANGLOPHONE LITERATURE, CULTURE, AND LINGUISTICS
We are pleased to announce the call for papers for the tenth issue of CURRENTS: A Journal of Young English Philology Thought and Review. CURRENTS is an open access, peer-reviewed, yearly interdisciplinary journal, based in Toruń (Nicolaus Copernicus University), addressed to young researchers in the field of English studies.
The aim of Currents is to provide space for the exchange of thought among young English philology scholars. We are especially interested in contributions from students at master’s or doctoral level, but academics who have recently obtained a PhD or colleagues who would like to share the results of their BA research are encouraged to submit their proposals, too.
The central concern of the tenth issue of Currents is the theme of politics and poetics of difference and their representations in Anglophone literature, culture and linguistics.
Difference and diversity have a profound impact on every aspect of human activity. However, society’s response to them can be mixed, ranging from outright elimination or assimilation to affirmation. Differences can spark new trends, inspire innovative research, and bring fresh perspectives to the arts and sciences. Politics of difference highlights, among many other issues, social inequities that give rise to movements for change. Feminism, for example, emerged as a response to gender inequalities and the exploitation of women. Postcolonial studies, in turn, arose from the tensions between European and Indigenous cultures. Even collective experiences of nationhood, community, and cultural values derive, as Homi Bhabha argues, from “the overlap ofthe domains of difference” (The Location of Culture, 2). Poetics of difference denotes strategies and modes of expression used for communicating diversity and otherness. It might, for example, include subversive and disruptive forms, experimental styles or deconstructive discourses. Poetics of difference can also involve embracing a multiplicity of voices as polyphony (Bakhtin, Problems of Dostoevsky’s Poetics), where “a variety of conflicting ideological positions” are presented as equally important without being subjected to authoritative judgment (Lodge, After Bakhtin, 86). The examples in which different perspectives on social and cultural issues changed the way of thinking are diverse; in this volume, we will explore the ways in which difference shapes our world and the challenges and opportunities it presents.
By taking an inter-disciplinary approach towards ‘politics and poetics of difference,’ we aim to explore contemporary reactions to the most recent and captivating ideas in literature, culture and linguistics, including the discussion on various modes of expression that are used for communicating difference and diversity.
We invite articles addressing the theme of difference in its various manifestations, including the following issues:
- • Intersectionality - how various factors create different modes of oppression and privilege;
- • Postcolonial theory as a means to explore cultural diversity - difference as a connecting and alienating factor;
- • Depictions of exclusion and inclusion in literary and cultural texts;
- • Speciesism in fantasy texts;
- • Different but equal - solarpunk stories of coexistence;
- • Language as a feature distinguishing humans from other animals - a posthuman take;
- • Gender-inclusive language;
- • Genre as a way of discussing difference;
- • Linguistic novelty in exploring difference, diversity, inclusiveness and exclusiveness;
- • Imagery of gender, racial, ethnic, religious (etc.) differences in literature, culture, and linguistics.
In addition to the difference-themed articles, we accept papers to be published in the general section of Currents, falling thematically into the general field of English studies, but unrelated to the issue’s main topic.
We also invite submissions to the review section. Reviews should preferably be devoted to publications relevant to the theme of the current issue and related to recent research in the field of English studies.
Articles accompanied by abstracts of 200-300 words and a short biographical note about the author (50-100 words) or reviews should be submitted to currentsjournalumk@gmail.com by the end of February 2024.
Suggested article length: 3,500—5,000 words.
Suggested review length: ca. 1500 words.
For author’s guidelines see “Instructions for authors”: Instructions