Contemporary Poetry and Affect Studie s: Theoretical Approaches and Readings (revue Culture, Language and Representation)
Call for Proposals
Culture, Language and Representation (CLR). Special Issue (November 2022)
Contemporary Poetry and Affect Studies: Theoretical Approaches and Readings
Coordinators:
Dr Caterina Calafat
https://uib-es.academia.edu/CaterinaCalafat
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Caterina_Calafat
Dr Margalida Pons
https://uib-es.academia.edu/MargalidaPons
http://licetc.uib.cat/margalida-pons/
LiCETC, University of the Balearic Islands
This Special Issue aims to reflect on the conceptual constructs of Affect Studies and their applicability to the analysis of poetry; and to discuss a range of readings of twenty-first century poetry within this theoretical framework, focusing on two aspects: 1) the representation of affect and emotion, and 2) the social, political and ethical implications of this representation. We invite contributions that explore these issues from a variety of theoretical approaches, including thematic, cognitive and sociological.
In line with Spinoza, Deleuze-Guattari and Brian Massumi, among others, affect determines and modifies our capacity to act and, consequently, it entails a relationship with the ‘Other’. As traditionally the study of poetry has concentrated on the individual, intimate and untransferable, academic efforts should turn their attention to the analysis of alterity as well.
While an influential body of scholarly work on Affect Theory has emerged in the past decades within the disciplines of Cultural and Literary Studies (e.g. Sara Ahmed, Lauren Berlant, Teresa Brennan, Eva Illouz, Melissa Gregg and Gregory Seigworth), in the field of Poetry Studies many questions remain unanswered:
-what is the connection between writing, embodiment and emotion, in particular, in performative forms of poetry?;
-what is the relationship between different forms of pragmatic figuration and the representation of emotions?;
-what is the link between intellect and affect in contemporary poetry?;
-what is the role of affect in the constitution of poetry as a discourse to contest hegemonic values?;
-how has the sexist segregation of passions been (de-)institutionalised?
Finally, and with regards to the last two questions, contributions could explore the relationship between the study of emotion and Queer and Feminist Theories, as well as its links with social activism, and Translation and Postcolonial Studies.
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This Special Issue is integrated in the Research project Contemporary Catalan poetry from the perspective of Affect Studies: theories, gender implications and applications to textual and performative practices (Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación PID2019-105083GB-I00 / AEI / 10.13039/501100011033).
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References
Bermúdez, Víctor (2019). “Dinámicas de la interpretación poética: emoción y estética cognitiva en la lectura literaria”. Signa, 28, 139-171.
Brenkman, John (2020). Mood and Trope. The Rhetoric and Poetics of Affect. Chicago and London, The University of Chicago Press.
Brennan, Teresa (2004). The Transmission of Affect. Ithaca, Cornell University Press.
Brinkema, Eugenie (2014). The Forms of the Affects. Durham and London, Duke University Press.
Gunew, Sneja (2020). “Translating Postcolonial Affect”, in Affect and Literature, ed. A. Houen. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 175-189.
Fischer, Clara (2018). “Gender and the Politics of Shame: A Twenty‐First‐Century Feminist Shame Theory”. Hypatia, 33(3), 371-383.
Hogan, Patrick C. (2016). “Affect Studies and Literary Criticism”, in Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature, ed. Paula Rabinowit. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1-32.
Illouz, Eva (2007). Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism. London, Polity Press.
Koskinen, Kaisa (2012). “Domestication, Foreignization and the Modulation of Affect”, in Domestication and Foreignization in Translation Studies, eds. Hannu Kemppanen, Marja Jänis, Alexandra Belikova. Berlin, Frank& Timme, 13-32.
Massumi, Brian (2002). Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation. Durham and London, Duke University Press.
Massumi, Brian (2015). Politics of Affect. Cambridge (UK), Polity.
Paszkiewicz, Katarzyna (ed.) (2016). “Pensar el afecto desde la cultura y el arte”. 452ºF. Revista de Teoría de la Literatura y Literatura Comparada, 14. https://452f.com/numero14/.
Pedwell, Carolyn (2014). Affective Relations: The Transnational Politics of Empathy. London, Palgrave Macmillan.
Segdwick, Eve Kosovsky (2003). Touching Feeling. Affect, Pedagogy, Performativity. Durham and London, Duke University Press.
Seigworth, Gregory and Melissa Gregg (ed.) (2010). The Affect Theory Reader. Durham, NC, Duke University Press.
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Submission of Proposals
Only a limited number of original unpublished research proposals will be accepted.
Possible topics include the following:
The rhetoric of emotions
Affect in performative forms of poetry
Gender and emotion in Feminist and Queer theory
The politics of affect: power and resistance
Affect, embodiment and poetry
Ecopoetics and affect
Emotion and Life writing
“Affective translation”: Transnationalism and Postcolonialism.
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Article proposals should include a title, 4 to 5 keywords, a 500-word abstract (all this information must be bilingual in its entirety, necessarily in English and in one of the other languages of the journal, i.e. Spanish or Catalan), bibliography, and the author’s biosketch (200 words) in either English, Spanish or Catalan.
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Selection and Publication Process
The selection process will take place in two stages:
The abstracts should be sent to the coordinators, caterina.calafat@uib.cat and margalida.pons@uib.cat, who will assess if the topic is within the scope of this Special Issue, and the overall quality of the proposal.
Note that initial acceptance of the abstract does not imply the publication of the proposed paper.
All contributions will undergo a double-blind peer review conducted by external referees.
Final articles should not exceed 8,000 words (including the abstract and the bibliography) and have to adhere to CLR’s author style guidelines: http://www.e-revistes.uji.es/index.php/clr/about/submissions.
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Deadlines
Abstract submission: April 30th, 2021.
Notification of acceptance/rejection: June 10th , 2021.
Final paper submission: December 20th, 2021.
Review period: January- April, 2022.
Notification of acceptance/rejection: May 5th, 2022.
Submission of final papers: July 30th , 2022.
Publication: November, 2022.