Title: Unsettled Englishes: Migration, Displacement, and the Anzaldúan Borderland

Sponsoring Entity: MLA LSL Global English Forum

Description: In alignment with the 2027 Presidential Theme, "Emancipatory Narratives," this session interrogates the linguistic borders that define the migrant experience. Grounded in Gloria Anzaldúa’s concept of the "linguistic borderland," we explore the space where identity, displacement, and Global English collide.

We seek papers that move beyond the view of English as a mere "lingua franca" and instead analyze it as a site of struggle and reclamation. How do displaced subjects navigate "linguistic terrorism"—the delegitimization of hybrid tongues—to forge new forms of agency? From literature and digital diaspora to street-level activism, we invite contributions that examine how the "wild tongues" of the borderlands are reshaping the global lexicon.

Topics include:

• Raciolinguistics and the "policing" of migrant speech patterns.

• Translingual narratives of survival, exile, and linguistic hybridity.

• Autohistoria-teoría: Blending personal narrative with Global English theory.

• How the geography and history of Los Angeles inform "border" Englishes.

Submission Requirements: Please email a 250-word abstract and a 100-word bio to bghcc@iup.edu by March 15, 2026.