Call for Papers: Beyond the Literary Canon

Beyond the Literary Canon

Jordan Bates defines literary canon as “a body of books, narratives, and other texts considered to be the most important and influential.” Such a canon is essentially set by academicians wielding power in university departments and institutions of influence and eminence. In doing so, uncanonical works are thrust to the fringes of the discourse forever.

Authors such as Madara Chennaiah, Aphra Behn, Frank J. Webb, Mary Fortune, Beatrice Harraden, S.R. Crockett, Krupabai Satthianadhan, Fakir Mohan Senapati, Flora Nwapa, are just some of the many writers who have been ignored by academicians and critics. The reasons for such gross neglect are many. In a hegemonic world, works are privileged on the basis of gender, class, caste, and race — leading to the marginalisation of many texts.

Another significant reason is snobbishness towards works of genres that are perceived as being not culturally elite. Hence, science fiction, detective fiction, horror literature are often sidelined. For a long period, even writers such as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bram Stoker, and Jules Verne were ignored by researchers and academicians. Visual and oral texts have also often been sidelined in the same manner.

Bates argues that it was in the 1900s, especially in the later half, that the idea of canon was questioned. One reason for this, according to Bates, is that people from the unprivileged or underrepresented strata of society started occupying places in university departments and anthologised unacknowledged works. While the selection, even then, might be and was biased, it still brought to the fore certain texts/writers that had been hitherto marginalised.

In the current scenario, it is pertinent that English scholars and researchers realise the need to look beyond the canon.

So, in this edition, we are inviting papers that challenge the established notions of canon.

Scholars may focus on the following areas, though this list is neither comprehensive nor binding:

  • What is canon?
  • Politics of canon making
  • Canon in the language classroom
  • Teaching non-canonical texts
  • Subversion of canon
  • Popular literature vs canon
  • Writers on/from the margins
  • Genre literature

While papers on this specific area would be preferred, articles or reviews dealing with other aspects that would interest an English literature student would be accepted.

Deadline

The last date for submission is December 31, 2019.

Please note that authors would be informed of the status of their publication a month after the deadline.

Guidelines

Each essay should be of 1500-3000 words, and properly referenced.

It should be accompanied by a brief bio note of 60 words, an abstract of 100 words, five key words, and the contributor’s ORCID ID.

Latest MLA style-sheet reference system should be followed.

Please, if necessary, use only Endnotes. Please refrain from using footnotes.

Send a short bio-note of not more than 60 words, along with a small photograph (not more than 100px in width).

Use your own or copyright-free or CC-licensed pictures (if necessary).

Plagiarism is a legal offence, and writers are requested to take proper care that their articles are plagiarism – free.

Papers that do not follow these guidelines would be summarily rejected.

How to Send

We accept only electronic submissions. Send your writings to chiefeditor@springmagazine.net and publisher@springmagazine.net.

Deadline for Submission: December 31, 2019.

Terms and Conditions

As we do not charge a publication fee, contributors are expected to send papers that are properly edited, proof-read, and formatted. Submission, however, does not guarantee publication.  Papers are blind peer-reviewed; and in some cases, the editor might suggest a few modifications to the submitted paper. However, such suggestions do not necessarily mean the paper is/would be accepted.

Finally, any form of plagiarism is strictly condemned; and authors found to be indulging in such activity would be banned from submitting articles to the magazine in future.