Call for Chapters: TOWARDS ‘BLUER’ HUMANITIES: OCEANIC MEDITATIONS IN ART, LITERATURE AND CULTURE

  • After selection, contributors will have to pay a nominal fee of Rs 500/ (inclusive of processing, publication, and postal charges)
  • Selected papers will be published as a book with ISBN by a leading publisher in New Delhi

Concept Note

Blue Humanities is one of the most enthralling and important areas of emergent research in disciplines ranging from history to visual arts, to cultural and literary studies. In 2009, literary scholar Steve Mentz coined the phrase “blue cultural studies” or “blue humanities”- thereby providing a platform for the collective work of an increasing number of scholars who had shifted their attention from land to ocean, and from the surface to what lies below. Characterized by disciplinary fluidity, interdisciplinary environmental studies, oceanography, marine biology, maritime history, ecology, science studies, and more. Blue Humanities scholars as Dan Brayton, Steve Mentz and Hester Blum use the ocean as a lens to advocate a shift from the frequent use of watery metaphors to focus on the ocean as a material and social entity, advancing studies that take the vantage point of those whose lives relate to and are determined by the ocean. The academic research area of the Blue Humanities applies critical tools, such as those of literature, cultural studies, and history, to oceanic contexts. Scholars from a variety of backgrounds have demonstrated how the world’s oceans challenge dominant epistemologies demanding new approaches that are both contingent and interdisciplinary. From Homer’s Odyssey to Life Between the Tides: In Search of Rockpools and other Adventures along the Shore by Adam Nicolson, the ocean has always captivated the imagination of poets, writers, and artists alike. At a time of extreme weather, melting polar caps, maritime pollution, and oceanic biodiversity loss, one perceives innumerable artistic and activist actions dedicated to water. Yet there is still a lack of comprehensive cultural and literary analysis of increased interest in water resulting from the climate crisis and an urgent need to change our attitude towards nature. The aim of the proposed book is to fill the gap, at least to some extent, by exploring hydro-emancipatory discourses of Blue Humanities. Interested scholars are welcome to examine the manifold relationships between the burgeoning research area of the ‘Blue Humanities’ and world literature perspectives.

Invite well researched, original, and unpublished papers on (but not restricted to) the following topics.

  • Hydro feminism
  • Gender, Race, and Oceanic Meanings
  • Oceanic Impressions on Culture
  • Representation of the Ocean in Films
  • Petro culture and Oceanic Criticism in Literature
  • World-Ecology Theory and the Ocean
  • World Literature and the Ocean

Submissions must be original and should not have been published previously or under consideration for publication elsewhere.

An abstract of 250 words must be mailed to bluehumanities2023@gmail.com

If accepted, the full paper must be submitted in MS Word Document of 4000-5000 words in Times New Roman 12 and following MLA 9th Edition. All submitted papers will undergo plagiarism check.

DATES TO REMEMBER

  • Deadline for abstracts: 20th December 2022
  • Intimation of acceptance: 21st December 2022
  • Deadline for full paper submission: 20th February 2023

Editors

Dr Sheeba MK (Assistant Professor of English, Department of Humanities, Central Sanskrit University, Guruvayur Campus, Puranattukara, Thrissur, Kerala)

Razeena PR (Assistant Professor of English, Sri C Achutha Menon Govt College, Thrissur, Kerala)

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