CFP: Climates of disaster and performance  (Special Issue of Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance, for release in March 2017)

 Taking off from the theme of the Philippine cluster event of PSi#21: Fluid States in 2015, the second issue of Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance, which will be its first themed issue on performance, will feature papers from the November 2015 conference ibut is open to new submissions and will be fully double-blind peer reviewed.

 The theme ‘climates of disaster and performance’ posits a situation or situations that arise from an experience of disaster, signaled by the ‘of’ – there are ‘climates of disaster’ that come about from disaster. This can be read as akin to or including ‘climate change’ that experts say is causing all the dreadful typhoons, tsunamis, drought, etc., but also the kinds of responses, behaviors, beliefs, opinions that come in the wake of a disaster, by which a ‘climate’ of human relations and actions is shaped. The theme calls for a particular emphasis on the great physical changes and their effects on our world, but also poses ‘disaster’ as pertaining to other forms of related insidious conditions afflicting many people, like ‘disasters of development’ suffered by those on the receiving end of so-called ‘development aggressions’ following neoliberal ‘development’ principles perennially being tested or implemented in many poor communities in the Asian region.

The second half of the theme: ‘climates of performance’ may be read in light of the foregoing. What are the conditions in which performance happen or is made, in the wake of or in response to a disaster? But we can be more expansive and ask how performance can be linked to disaster, if performance perchance may be thought in the terms of a disastrous event, how such thinking takes on board the implications of linking these two terms: disaster and performance and what possibilities are opened for a politics and ethics of performance.

 Being the journal’s first issue dedicated to performance, we wish to show the rich interdisciplinary character of the ‘field’ or the wide expanse of practices that claim or profess ‘performance’ as their generic field. So all submissions are welcome. This special issue will be co-edited by Dr. Jazmin Llana (De La Salle University, Manila) and Dr. Theron Schmidt (University of New South Wales, Sydney).

 Akda: The Asian Journal of Literature, Culture, Performance is an international peer-reviewed journal that seeks to publish cutting-edge articles in the areas and intersections of Literary, Cultural, and Performance Studies. We especially welcome articles that will inaugurate new and dynamic directions for scholarly inquiry on the literary and cultural production of the Asian region. Further, in our commitment to diversity and to multicultural dialogue, we welcome contributions that may potentially be relevant to the concerns of the region from various national and cultural backgrounds. The journal is supported by a distinguished editorial board that represents the journal’s scholarly depth and geographic scope.

 Akda is published biannually, in March and September, but will accept submissions year round. Submissions, which are assumed to be original, unpublished work, should range from 5,000 – 8,000 words (inclusive of notes) and should follow the MLA parenthetical documentation style. Authors should also include a title page with keywords, 200-word abstract, and a short bio note with their submission. The September issue is an open issue with no thematic preferences; the March issue will be thematically organized and will be edited by a recognized scholar in the field. The March 2017 issue will be co-edited by Jazmin Llana and Theron Schmidt.

Akda also accepts submissions of fiction, poetry, plays, screenplays, and the essay, creative writing that bends or crosses generic boundaries, as well as literary book reviews. Submissions must be in, or translated into, English. Translated work must be submitted with the consent of both author and translator.

 Deadline for submission for this issue is on October 31, 2016. Email your submissions to akda.submissions@gmail.com.  

 For inquiries, email: jazmin.llana@dlsu.edu.ph

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