The second issue of Angles, the new online journal published by the SAES, will aim at examining “angles and limes” in Anglo-American studies.
The purpose of this particular issue is to gather articles focusing both on the specific angles of each discipline and their limits, and on the instances when borders are crossed and limits are passed—must be passed—to further research. Scholars from all disciplines are invited to submit proposals developing and clarifying their own practices as regards limits and angles.
When examining these two terms, the following questions come to mind—but these are by no means exclusive of others that could be raised from actual personal critical practices:
Certain disciplines have turned to other fields for inspiration: literary studies have turned to philosophy, psychoanalysis and the visual arts, as well as medicine and sociology; film studies often refer to drama and painting, but also to sculpture, dance and music; linguistics have begun working on dance, etc. Do such connections or bridges between different fields of study tend to blur the lines between them or, on the contrary, to what extent do they emphasize the identity of each discipline?
Drawing a clear limit between one field of study and another involves paying attention to what is inside, or belongs to, one discipline while dismissing what is outside, what lies beyond. It amounts therefore to a process of self-determination and creates meaning. What have been the consequences of such practices? Conversely, (how) does this bridging lead to issues of legitimacy (intellectual and professional) and with what consequences?
To what extent does the constitution of ‘subtopics’ within literary studies and social studies (society for the study of…, studies of trauma, of gender, whiteness, etc.) change the limits of the initial discipline?
For scholars specializing in British/American/etc. social and historical studies, how does the existence of traditional disciplines work to influence their own research? The same question can be applied to the existence of ‘foreign’ established traditions and their influence on French scholars. In the specific French academic context, for instance, ‘civilisation’ has acted as a place of transgression of the traditional disciplinary map. Has such movement survived its own inception with the increasing professionalization and internationalization of research?
How do/did scholars working on British/American/Commonwealth studies experience their linguistic/cultural/epistemological ‘outsideness’ to transform it into something constructive? Cultural studies—and Colonial studies—have flourished on such crossings of lines. Have they been a source of inspiration, adding depth to scholarly criticism or, on the contrary, have they been an easy way out of the traditional disciplinary field?
How do concepts such as ‘limits’ and ‘interspace’ work in fields of ‘visual studies’ or in linguistics, both in terms of theory and/or corpus?
We welcome all manner of theoretical inquiry into these fields, but we are looking specifically for contributions that will combine theoretical questions with concrete examples drawn from actual research. We are also looking for critical self-examination, uncompromising self-analysis—including of failures—and even iconoclastic contributions, provided they are grounded on practice and not simply on programmatic statements.
Scholars from all disciplines are invited to submit 500-word proposals addressing these or other topics. In addition to traditional academic articles, Angles accepts scholarly contributions addressing the topic partly, or wholly, in non-traditional forms (documentary film, short story, comic book, manifesto, pamphlet…). Angles also encourages proposals meeting high standards of scholarship from academics wishing to experiment with different disciplinary perspectives.
Additional, off-topic contributions are also welcome.
In addition to traditional academic articles, Angles accepts scholarly contributions in non-traditional forms (documentary film, short story, comic book, manifesto, pamphlet…). 'Angles' also encourages proposals meeting high standards of scholarship from academics wishing to experiment with different disciplinary perspectives.
Deadline for abstracts: 15 December 2014. http://angles.saesfrance.org/index.php?id=90