Journal Interlitteraria Call for papers Pandemics in European Literature (20th – 21st ce.): Theory and Practice

Deadline: 31st of January 2021
Contact: Guest Editors: Nikoleta Zampaki, PhD Candidate of Modern Greek Philology, Department of Philology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, e-mail: nikzamp@phil.uoa.gr, nikoletazampaki@hotmail.com. Peggy Karpouzou, Assistant Professor of Theory of Literature, Department of Philology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece, e-mail: pkarpouzou@phil.uoa.gr
Email: nikoletazampaki@hotmail.com

Journal Interlitteraria

(https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/IL)

Call for papers
Pandemics in European Literature (20th – 21st ce.): Theory and Practice

Guest Editors:
Nikoleta Zampaki, PhD Candidate of Modern Greek Philology, Department of
Philology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece,
e-mail: nikzamp@phil.uoa.gr, nikoletazampaki@hotmail.com

Peggy Karpouzou, Assistant Professor of Theory of Literature, Department of
Philology, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece,
e-mail: pkarpouzou@phil.uoa.gr

Paper proposals are invited for a special issue on the topic of Pandemics in European Literature (20th -21st ce.): Theory and Practice and they might explore the topic of pandemics in the European Literature. Over time disease outbreaks have ravaged humanity, sometimes changing the course of history. From Homer’s Iliad which starts with a plague that strikes the Greek army at Troy there are numerous examples of contagion fables (plagues, epidemics, infectious diseases, etc.) into the European canon, among the most outstanding are certainly The Decameron, written by Renaissance humanist Giovanni Boccaccio in the late 1340s and early 1350s, Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year (1722), Mary Shelley’s The Last Man (1826), Jack London’s The Scarlet Plague (1912) and Albert Camus, La Peste (1947). We will highlight the notion of pandemics, thought as a very large epidemic, through variable European literary texts, the impact on the people and their culture as well as the psychological dimensions that caused to humanity.

Papers might address questions like the following:

  • Which are the representations of pandemics in the Εuropean Literary tradition (20th-21st ce.) and genres like science fiction, apocalyptic fiction, climate fiction, traveling writing? How can pandemics be represented through the different local literary traditions?
  • How did European Literature and Culture contribute to quarantine time? How did authors continue to write through the time of pandemics?
  • How can society and individuals live through the sense of isolation and loss of community? How is their identity shaped and which is the social impact of pandemics? Which is the role of biopolitics and necropolitics in this direction?
  • How about the impact of Ethics into Pandemics and vice versa?
  • How can self-quarantine create an opportunity for increased engagement with environmental humanities and animal studies?
  • May we investigate any nexus between pandemics and feminism or ecofeminism?
  • Which is the relationship of pandemics and post humanities? Should we consider different representations of meta-bodies into today’s literary texts?
  • Could be found any scientific discourses of pandemics into European Literature?
  • May we contribute any ideas arising from our research to the current pandemic literature and what concerns may be pushed to the background now that pandemics dominate the headlines, but are still relevant and happening at the same time?
  • How could pandemics construct or establish variable narrations today? May we consider a new pandemic theory as a new sub-form at the era of Anthropocene?

Through this call we focus on a variety of pandemic dimensions in the European Literature and we aim to provide broader scientific and cultural context for it. To cover the global scope of the topic, we seek contributions from around the world. Interested authors should send an abstract of no more than 300 words, a brief bio (c. 200 words) and 3-5 key words at both Guest Editors’ emails by the 31st of January 2021. Authors will be informed about whether their proposals have been accepted after the deadline. The call targets an academic and professional audience and all papers should follow the journal’s guidelines of submissions and policy.

Please follow the guidelines for the submission [https://ojs.utlib.ee/index.php/IL/about/submissions] and the articles’ word count should be approximately 6.000 words. Please do not hesitate to contact us with any queries you might have.

Posted on July 15, 2020