We hope SFRA members will propose work that would benefit the special-session:
Hacking (In)security: Rewiring Systems through Genre
How does contemporary global genre fiction re-imagine political / personal insecurities? How can it subvert oppressive systems?
Texts from 1950's - present. Please submit 350 word abstracts and CV by 15 March 2017 to Jessica L. FitzPatrick (JLF115@pitt.edu) and Sagnika Chanda (SAC204@pitt.edu).
We particularly encourage abstracts that do one or more of the following:
- focus on postcolonial SF
- use the "(in)security" conference theme to contend with intersectional modes of resistance
- illuminate atypical textual mediums
- contend with the potential of alternative imaginative modes
- explore works that challenge traditional genre orientations and borders
- consider imaginative ways to not only challenge and reform but also defy and elude systemic modes of oppression
- deliberate porous citizenship and spatial boundaries
- challenge the dialectic connotations of security/insecurity at personal/political levels
Accepted participants will then move forward as a special-session proposal for the 2018 MLA Annual Convention, held in New York City from 4 to 7 January. All participants will need to be members of the MLA. The presidential theme for the convention is
#States of Insecurity. For more details about the conference see
https://www.mla.org/Convention/MLA-2018 ; for details about special sessions see
https://www.mla.org/Convention/Planning-a-Convention-Session/Special-Session-FAQs. Please contact Jessica FitzPatrick and Sagnika Chanda with any questions.