Science Fictions Studies invites proposals for a special issue on The Animal, exploring the variety of ways that science fiction may be analysed from the perspective of animal studies. Animals are among the oldest metaphors through which humanity has defined itself. We welcome both papers that deal with representations of animals and the metaphorical use of the category of speciesism to enforce social boundaries and establish a humanist subject, and also papers that consider our changing material relationships with animals as they are mediated by changing technologies. Science fiction's long history of engaging with themes of alterity and of narrating the social consequences of technological change point to the many fruitful intersections of the genre with animal studies research.

Proposals might consider, but are not limited to, some of the following conjunctions of animal studies and science fiction:

o Manufactured animals as commodities, workers, or tools within the sf world, including manufactured 'lab tool' animals such as Oncomouse

o Animal-like aliens as companions, family members, pets or comrades of humans

o Animal-like aliens as competition or threat, invading force, vermin, or predator of humans

o Representations of humans as animals from the point of view of alien species

o Challenges to the species boundary through human/animal hybrids

o Darwinian stories especially those dealing with non-human primates including proto-human species

o Animals and nature seen as resource for human projects including scientific experimentation

o Stories of animal cognition, including uplift stories or those in which animals naturally evolve to a point beyond humans

o New technological relationships with animals and their implications (factory farming, gene splicing, xenotransplantation, pharming, etc.)

Please send abstracts of no more than 500 words by September 30, 2006 to:
Sherryl Vint
Department of English
St. Francis Xavier University

P.O. Box 5000

Antigonish, NS B2G 2W5

Canada
FAX (902) 867-5400
svint_at_stfx.ca

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Received on Sat Jul 01 2006 - 07:12:32 EDT