Call for Proposals
ACQL's 2024 annual conference at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences will be held at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec from June 14 to 16. 

Resurgence of Epistemologies of Gender in Contemporary Indigenous Literatures
Panel organized by Isabella Huberman (UBC), Marie-Eve Bradette (U. Laval) and Sophie Larue (U. Laval)

Critical research on gender representation within Indigenous literary studies across Anglophone parts of Canada started gaining prominence in the 1990s, notably with Sto:lo author Lee Maracle’s seminal essay I am a Woman. Since its publication, scholars have continued to explore various notions of Indigenous feminism (Anderson 2016; Green 2017; Arvin, Tuck et Morill 2013; Suzack 2017, Suzack et al. 2010), Indigenous masculinity (McKegney 2014 et 2021; Innes et Anderson 2015), and, albeit less frequently, Two-Spirit and Indigiqueer identities (Morgan 2021; Picard 2022). As for French-language scholarship on Indigenous literatures, while many have taken an interest in female authorship (Bradette 2022; Couture-Grondin 2019; Papillon 2016 et 2019; St-Laurent 2022), there has been limited exploration of broader questions concerning gender identity and its articulation in Francophone works of Indigenous literature produced on lands claimed by Quebec. Nevertheless, several recent literary works published within Francophone milieus, such as Akuteu (2022) by Soleil Launière, Envole toi, Mikun (2023) by Moira Bacon, and Pisim Mapeu (2023) by Georges Pisimopeo, exemplify what could be termed “a resurgence of epistemologies of gender,” by opening a spectrum of positionalities and identities. While they contribute to the renewal of the literary landscape in Quebec, these works also actively engage in a dialogue with recent Anglophone texts, including the poetic writings of Tenille Campbell (2021) and Jaye Simpson (2020), the narrative prose of Joshua Whitehead (2022) and Jas Morgan (2018), and the hybrid texts of Billy-Ray Belcourt (2022). With this in mind, our panel will focus on how Indigenous authors from Francophone and Anglophone regions of Canada, or those working in translation, are contributing to the resurgence of diverse gender experiences that reflect and renew relationships with others, land, and self.
The panel will be bilingual, and we invite proposals written in French, English, or in colingual formats. Themes for consideration encompass, but are not limited to:

• Gender as knowledge
• The sovereignty of the (gendered) body
• Two-spirit and Indigiqueer identities in Quebec and beyond
• Indigenous masculinities in Quebec and beyond
• Alliances, collectivities, kinships, and gender diversity
• Language and gender
• French translations of queer Indigenous literature from Anglophone Canada
• Indigenous ecocriticism and gender
• Extractivism (of resources, bodies, and knowledge) and gender

For the second part of the panel, which will be a roundtable discussion, we invite contributions for a shared conversation on the teaching of Indigenous narrative arts from Quebec. In response to Congress 2024’s call for reflections on pathways toward more sustainable futures, we maintain that the teaching of Indigenous literatures, especially literary works depicting gender diversity, is essential to actively shape a viable, decolonial and intersectional future.

Proposals, of a maximum of 300 words, along with short biographical statements in Word or RTF format, must be submitted before Thursday, February 1, 2024, to the individuals responsible for organizing the panel: Isabella Huberman (isabella.huberman@ubc.ca), Marie-Eve Bradette (marie-eve.bradette@lit.ulaval.ca) and Sophie Larue (sophie.larue@elul.ulaval.cal). Exploratory formats of conference presentations are welcome.