Deadline: December 1, 2022
Contact: Taylor Eggan, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Pacific Northwest College of Art @ Willamette University
Email: taeggan@willamette.edu
Phone: 503.998.7844
Panel proposed at the 2023 ASLE + AESS Conference: “Reclaiming the Commons”
July 9–12, 2023 in Portland, Oregon
Organized by Erin James (University of Idaho) and Taylor Eggan (Pacific Northwest College of Art)
How can we be sure that we are talking about the same thing when, from our various disciplinary and experiential vantages, we speak of “the commons?” This question gains significance and urgency when we consider how unevenly land and resources are distributed, and how disproportionately this uneven distribution affects different communities. Although the uneven distribution of and access to the commons is by no means a new phenomenon, the ongoing pandemic has newly sharpened our awareness of it. Consider the early pandemic adage: “We’re all in the same boat together.” Drawing attention to the varied experiences of and vulnerabilities to this apparently universal plague, many were quick to amend: “Different boats, same storm.” Of course, even the storm looks rather different depending on what boat you’re in. For those in the luxury yacht, it may seem little more than mild gusts of wind and rain. For those in the dugout canoe, it may be a life-threatening squall.
Any project dedicated to “reclaiming the commons” must first ask not only what the commons are, but under what conditions the commons can be apprehended, sensed, imagined, or known. How do divergent environmental imaginaries inflect different understandings of the commons? How do competing moral economies instigate contests over the use and distribution of the commons? No discussion of territorial, aquatic, or atmospheric commons will be complete without serious consideration of these questions.
We are seeking papers that respond to these issues by exploring how literary texts give imaginative form to the “unspoken commons”—that is, alternative understandings of the commons that cannot be fully articulated within existing social, political, juridical, or environmental discourses. We are particularly interested in work that approaches the connection between literary form and the commons from postcolonial, decolonial, and/or Indigenous perspectives.
Some questions and possible directions:
* How does attending to what remains unnarrated in a text serve the project of thinking about the commons?
* What are the unspoken—or yet-to-be-spoken—relations that link particular environmental imaginaries to the various material commons of the planet?
* What kinds of reading practices might serve to draw special attention to the problem of the commons and its connection to imaginative world building?
* What form or forms of writing are most conducive to exploring the unspoken commons? Is narrative especially conducive, or is there an argument to be made for other modes?
* Must theorizations of the commons rely on “cli-fi” and other Anthropocene narratives that explicitly address environmental issues? What other kinds of texts—both canonical and lesser known—can bring nuance to an understanding of the unspoken commons?
To be considered for this panel, please submit a paper proposal (max. 250 words), along with a short biographical note (max. 50 words), no later than December 1, 2022. Send all submission materials to ejames@uidaho.edu and taeggan@willamette.edu.
Posted on October 9, 2022
