In recent years, there has been a growing scholarly interest in Indigenous literatures
in English, including Native American, First Nations (Canadian), Australian
Aboriginal, Hawaiian, and other related literary traditions. More recently, the term
Oceanic Literatures has gained traction among critics to describe the literary
production of the Pacific Islands, encompassing regions such as New Zealand,
Hawai‘i, Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, and others. These literatures reflect the complex
processes through which “Oceanic” cultural identities are formed—shaped by
Indigenous worldviews and interwoven with the legacies of colonialism,
postcolonialism, migration, and global cultural flows - as present in the works of
Albert Wendt, Epeli Hau'ofa, Patricia Grace, Witi Ihimaera, Keri Hulme, Grace
Mera Molisa, John Pule, W.S. Merwin, and others.
This session invites papers that engage with—but are not limited to—Indigenous
and Oceanic literatures and cultures, particularly those that explore the
multifaceted nature of cultural identity, belonging, and resistance. We welcome
contributions that examine how these literatures depict the negotiation of
Indigenous and Oceanic sensibilities in relation to colonial histories, postcolonial
realities, modern technologies, popular culture, and broader social, ethnic, and
historical frameworks.
Submissions may address topics such as:
• Hybridity and the negotiation of Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultural
influences
• Representation of land, sea, and ecological knowledge
• Language revitalization and cultural preservation
• Memory, trauma, and historical reconciliation
• Identity and community in the diaspora and digital age
We particularly encourage interdisciplinary approaches and comparative analyses
that engage with both literary and cultural theory, human geography,
environmental studies and others.
CONVENORS:
• Jaroslav Kušnír (University of Prešov, Slovakia)
jaroslav.kusnir@unipo.sk
• Dan Horatiu Popescu (Partium Christian University, Romania)
dhpopescu@partium.ro