Western scholarship has historically adopted a vision of contemporary aboriginal literature and art as categorizable along racial, cultural, regional and historical characteristics. This tends to homogenize and de-nationalize the tribal, while simultaneously confining the Native artist to a North American narrative of "ethnicity." The editors of this project hope to highlight and perhaps challenge these "captive" conceptions of North American indigeneity with essays from prominent scholars situated throughout the Pacific Rim whose exposures to and experiences of Asian and Pacific indigenity in all its diversity enables them to undertake refreshingly new readings of Native American writing and art.

The editors are therefore calling for participation from scholars writing from within or self-identified as belonging to Pacific Rim nations (a collection of nation-states as diverse as, for example, India and Panama, China and Chile, Malaysia and New Zealand, Japan and Sri Lanka) who can provide serious essays on contemporary Native American writing and art.

These essays, when compiled within a single volume, may give rise to a new vision of North American aboriginality that is disarmingly familiar and yet noticeably dissimilar from previous works of European and American scholarship on modern American literature and art. Contributors are therefore encouraged to consider how their own exposure to Asian and Pacific cultural influences informs their readings of contemporary Native North American literature and art.

Proposed essays may focus on a wide selection of genres and cultural forms, including literary works of fiction (short stories, novels, poetry, graphic arts and drama), the moving image (television, film and performance art) and the fine arts (painting and sculpture). Contributors may consider essays on Native North American literature and art that include, but in no way are limited to:

Readings of individual Native North American artists/texts/works; employment of comparative methods; applications of theory; uses of multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary approaches; examinations of the influence of myth and history on the artist/text; and of course discussions of specific topics (as expressed within and upon literary works) such as sovereignty, environmentalism, identity, sexuality, education, economy, trauma, hybridity, etc.

Abstracts should be no longer than 600 words in length. At the bottom of the digital file, as well as within the email cover letter, please include all relevant personal and contact information (name, title, organization, email addresses, homepage, postal mailing address, etc.). Submit your Abstract digitally as a Microsoft Word (or similarly compatible) file to the Editors at:

transpacificindigenous@gmail.com

Please include the word "Abstract Submission" in the message line of your email.

Deadline for submission is September 15, 2009. Once the proposal has been accepted by an academic publisher with interest in Native American Studies, contributors will be asked to send final essays of 5,000-8,000 words.

Please note that an invitation to submit completed essays will not necessarily guarantee inclusion in the collection; as all final decisions will be made on the merit of the final article. Direct any questions or requests for further information to the above email.

Editors: Timothy R. Fox, National Ilan University (Taiwan) and Yin-wen Yu, National Taiwan Normal University (Taiwan)