CfP: Transfuturism Edited Book

Identity and representation in the here and now, as far as cultural productions are concerned, have been supported and/ or undermined by visions of the future in literature, performative arts, or cinema. Authors and performers have offered to audiences their concerns, hopes, and expectations about possible futures via either utopian or dystopian narratives.

In 2007, Ann Brooks was talking about a new modality of acknowledging cultural and ethnic identity from a transcultural and transnational viewpoint. In her words, “[t]hese new cultural and ethnic identities carry with them the need for new conceptions of subjectivity and require the opening-up of new subject positions and new spaces and places from which to speak.” (184).

It is our belief that the role of futuristic and Science Fiction productions has been key in supporting a transcendence and transformation of subjectivities in the now. Therefore, we are inviting scholars interested in renditions of futuristic worlds in literature, film, or performative arts focusing on (but not restricted to) the following topics to join us in this book project.

Suggested research topics:

Technology and transcendence (technology-driven futures; technological advances in conflict with human nature and society; Artificial Intelligence and transhumanism).

Gender identities and gender roles (LGBT+; transgender people and species, cyborgs and other beings; gender roles reimagined/transformed by futuristic contexts).

Nature and (animal) biology in Science Fiction (technological advances in conflict/ in harmony with nature and society; utopian/ dystopian ecological futures; fears and dreams that transcend geographical borders; survival of the human species and alien encounters).

The book will be published by either Springer or Routledge.

You are kindly invited to email your paper Abstract (500 words) & Short Biodata (150 words) to both editors of the book

Aparajita Nanda Lucia-Mihaela Grosu-Rădulescu

Deadline for submission of abstracts: 1st August 2023

You will be intimated of selection by 1st September 2023.

Accepted contributors will need to submit papers of around 6,000 words by 15th January 2024.

Reference

Brooks. A. 2007. “Reconceptualizing Representation and Identity: Issues of Transculturalism and Transnationalism in the Intersection of Feminism and Cultural Sociology”, in Tim Edwards (ed.) Cultural Theory – Classical and Contemporary Positions. Los Angeles: Sage Publications

Contact Information: Aparajita Nanda, Lucia-Mihaela Grosu-Rădulescu.