DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH 

Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur

9th Inter-University Students’ and Researchers’ Conference 2023

On

Queer Literature & LGBTQ+: Intersections, Narratives, and Representations

on

Tuesday, 10 October, 2023

In recent years, the literary landscape has undergone a transformative shift, with a growing body of literature that delves into the complex realm of queer experiences and LGBTQ+ identities. This transformation is aligned with the observations made by Michael Warner in his book The Trouble with Normal: Sex, Politics, and the Ethics of Queer Life (1999) where he emphasizes the need for recognizing and engaging with queer narratives within the broader cultural context. Warner's perspective is corroborated by David M. Halperin’s work One Hundred Years of Homosexuality: And Other Essays on Greek Love (1990), in which he discusses the significance of incorporating diverse narratives, including queer narratives, into literary discourse to achieve a more comprehensive understanding of human experiences.

The aim of the conference of providing an intellectual forum for deliberations on interdisciplinary analysis of queer narratives, identities, and their implications within the broader socio-cultural contexts resonates with the framework of intersectionality proposed by Kimberlé Crenshaw. In her foundational work “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics” (1989), Crenshaw highlights the interconnected nature of identities and the importance of understanding how multiple facets of identity intersect to shape lived experiences.  

By drawing upon these insights of scholars of LGBTQ+, this conference invites college and university students and research scholars to highlight the necessity of recognizing diverse voices of LGBTQ+ identities and the intersections between literature, culture and society to critically engage with the diverse narratives, perspectives, and representations within queer literature.

The sub themes are as follows:

Ø  Historical Evolution of Queer Literature: Tracing the origins, growth, and transformation of queer literature over time.

Ø  Intersectionality and Identity: Exploring how LGBTQ+ identities intersect with race, class, ethnicity, disability and other social categories in literature.

Ø  Queer Voices in Different Genres: Analysing queer narratives in poetry, fiction, drama, memoirs, and other literary forms.

Ø  Representation and Visibility: Scrutinizing the portrayal of LGBTQ+ characters, relationships, and experiences in literature.

Ø  Queer Literature and Activism: Investigating the role of literature in advocating for LGBTQ+ rights, representation, and social change.

Ø  Global Perspectives: Examining how queer literature varies across cultural and geographical contexts.

Ø  Adaptations and Media: Studying the transition of queer narratives from literature to other media forms, such as film, television, and digital platforms.

Ø  Queer Futurities: Exploring speculative fiction, utopian/dystopian narratives, and the envisioning of queer futures.

Ø  Queer Ecology:  Examining challenges towards traditional binary and hierarchical perspectives that have often been applied to both human societies and nature.

Submission Guidelines:

• An abstract of 300 words with a maximum of 5 (five) relevant keywords is to be submitted by 25 August, 2023.
• The accepted presenters have to submit a first draft of 3500– 4000 words including footnotes on the conference date at the registration desk itself (the same should be sent to english.rkm@gmail.com) for consideration for publication in a conference proceeding with ISBN.
• A separate MS Word file should be submitted containing the article title, followed by the author’s name, affiliation and communication details.
•  Abstract & Full Paper are to be submitted only in MS Word format, typed in Times New Roman, 14-point Heading and 12-point normal text with 1.5 spacing & 10 points with 1.0 spacing for footnotes).
• Maximum of two authors are allowed for one paper.
• Citation Mode: MLA 9.

Important Dates:

• Abstract Submission Deadline--- 25th August (english.rkm@gmail.com )
• Notification of Acceptance---30th August
• Date of Conference: 10th October

Contact: english.rkm@gmail.com

Convenor: Bidhu Chand Murmu, Assistant Professor of English, Ramakrishna Mission Residential College (Autonomous), Narendrapur