Locating Transnational Desire. The Intersection of Sexuality and Place in Central and Eastern European Literatures

We invite scholars to contribute to the forthcoming monograph Locating Transnational Desire: The Intersection of Sexuality and Place in Central and Eastern European Literatures. Selected papers (subject to double-blind peer review) may be included in an edited volume to be published by an international academic press, likely in 2026.

This monograph aims to explore how sexual desire—understood as an expression of sexual agency—and broader concepts of sexuality, both as identities and practices, are linked to the notions of place, space, and location, as well as how these connections are represented in literary discourse. Our lived, embodied existence is inherently tied to specific spaces, which both shape and are shaped by our presence. Contemporary thought has moved away from an essentialist view of space and embraces a constructivist perspective, seeing space as socially produced through relationships within society (Lefebvre, 1991). Spatiality, therefore, is a social product, functioning simultaneously as both the medium and the outcome of social actions and relationships (Soja, 1989). Consequently, localities cannot be easily delineated but are better understood through the dynamic sets of social relations and processes that often involve conflict (Massey, 2007).

The spaces inhabited by people and objects profoundly affect them, allowing for analysis both through literature and as literature itself (Bachelard, 1964). Around the turn of the millennium, literary studies saw a surge in interest in spatial analysis, leading to what has been termed the "spatial turn" in the examination of literary works and systems (Guldi, 2011; Juvan, 2015). This monograph aims to approach the topic from multiple perspectives: examining both the spatiality represented within texts and the spatiality of the texts themselves, considering their creation and reception. A clearer understanding of how sexuality intersects with spatiality helps us decode hegemonic constructions of space and fosters the development of emancipatory spaces (Schick, 1999).

Sexual desire in literature is intricately linked with the places and spaces in which it is expressed, negotiated, repressed, concealed, or celebrated. These representations may range from portrayals of sexual agency within urban landscapes to the ways cultural geography shapes sexual identity. Our focus is on Central and Eastern European contexts, where such intersections have been relatively underexplored in literary traditions. Instead of merely applying theories developed in Western centers and projected outward, we aim to foster a critical dialogue about the applicability and necessary adaptations of these theories within the semi-peripheral space (Blagojević, 2009) of Central and Eastern European literatures. This monograph combines methodological chapters and case studies to provide new insights into the spatial and sexual dimensions within these literary traditions.

We invite submissions on topics that include, but are not limited to:

·      Sexual desire and urban life in Central and Eastern European literatures

·      Contrasts between urban and rural sexualities in literary representations

·      Queer geographies and depictions of sexual desire in literature

·      Cultural geography's influence on representations of sexual desire

·      Connections between literary tourism and topics of sexuality and desire

·      Spaces of sexual transgression and repression in literary narratives

·      Depictions of domestic, work, and public spaces in relation to sexuality

·      The role of sexual desire in psychographies

·      The foreign and liminal, border spaces as influences on literary expressions of desire

·      Narratives of desire, displacement, and exile

·      Sexual desire within spaces of girlhood and boyhood

·      Embodied spaces in narratives of aging and sexuality

·      Challenging normative sexual spaces in disability-focused literature

·      Interwoven themes of space, desire, and emotional frameworks

·      Dissident sexualities and the experiences of queer diasporas

·      Gendered and non-gendered spaces of masculinity, femininity, and desire

·      Literary intersections of space, politics, and ideology with sexuality

·      Explorations of sexual desire in utopian and dystopian settings

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We invite submissions from scholars, graduate students, and independent researchers across disciplines, including literary studies, cultural geography, gender studies, and queer theory. Papers may explore any period within Central and Eastern European literary history.

Submission Guidelines:

·      Proposal Length: 200-300 words

·      Submission Deadline: 20 December 2024

·      Email: darko.ilin@ung.si

·      Notification of Acceptance: By the end of January 2025

·      Final Article Length: 5,000-6,500 words

·      Final Article Deadline: 31 March 2025

·      Language: English

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All submissions will be subject to a double-blind peer review. We look forward to receiving your contributions!

Editors: Darko Ilin & Katja Mihurko

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Indicative bibliography :

Baker, K., and N. Walker, eds. A Space of Their Own: Women, Writing and Place 1850-1950. 1st ed. London: Routledge, 2023.

Bachelard, Gaston. The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.

Blagojević, Marina. Knowledge Production at the Semiperiphery: A Gender Perspective. Belgrade: Institut za kriminološka i sociološka istraživanja, 2009.

Colomina, Beatriz, ed. Sexuality & Space. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1992.

Eibl, Doris, and Caroline Rosenthal, eds. Space and Gender: Spaces of Difference in Canadian Women’s Writing = Espaces de Différence dans l’Écriture Canadienne au Féminin. 1st ed. Innsbruck: Innsbruck University Press, 2009.

Guldi, Jo. “What is the Spatial Turn?.” Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Institute for Enabling Geospatial Scholarship (2011).

Hubbard, Phil. "Geography and Sexuality: Why Space (Still) Matters." Sexualities 21, no. 8 (2018): 1295-1299.

Juvan, Marko. "From Spatial Turn to GIS-Mapping of Literary Cultures." European Review 23 (2015): 81-96.

Lefebvre, Henri. The Production of Space. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 1991.

Massey, Doreen. Space, Place and Gender. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2007.

Schick, Irvin Cemil. The Erotic Margin: Sexuality and Spatiality in Alteritist Discourse. London: Verso, 1999.

Soja, Edward W. Postmodern Geographies: The Reassertion of Space in Critical Social Theory. London: Verso, 1989.

Tally Jr., Robert T., ed. Literary Cartographies: Spatiality, Representation, and Narrative. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2014.