Call for Papers (CFP) for ISBN Edited Volume Edited Volume Title: Body Politics in Literature
Call for Papers (CFP) for ISBN Edited Volume
Edited Volume Title: Body Politics in Literature
About the Volume
The body in literature is never neutral; it is a site where power is exercised, identities are shaped, and social meanings are constantly negotiated. Rather than viewing the body as a purely biological entity, literary texts reveal it as something produced through cultural norms, political structures, and ideological forces. This edited volume, Body Politics in Literature, aims to investigate how writers across different periods and traditions represent the body as a space of control, conflict, and transformation.
Bringing together interdisciplinary approaches, the volume focuses on the ways in which bodies - particularly those marked by gender, caste, race, and other forms of marginalization - are depicted, disciplined, and contested in literary narratives. It also seeks to highlight how literature becomes a powerful medium through which these bodies resist imposed meanings, assert agency, and imagine new forms of embodied identity.
Objectives
- To examine the representation of the body as a site of power, control, and resistance
- To analyse the intersections of gender, sexuality, caste, race, and class in literary embodiment
- To explore how literature negotiates issues of agency, identity, and subjectivity through the body
- To foreground marginalized voices and alternative narratives of embodiment
Suggested Themes (Indicative, Not Exhaustive)
1. Theoretical Perspectives on Body Politics
- Feminist, queer, and intersectional theories of the body
- Body as discourse, text, and performance
- Postcolonial and decolonial approaches to embodiment
2. Gendered Bodies and Patriarchal Control
- Objectification, beauty standards, and bodily surveillance
- Honor, purity, and regulation of female bodies
- Marriage, domesticity, and bodily discipline
3. Sexuality, Desire, and Agency
- Female desire and its literary representation
- Queer bodies and non-normative identities
- Erotic autonomy and transgressive narratives
4. Violence, Trauma, and the Body
- Sexual violence and its representation in literature
- War, conflict, and violated bodies
- Trauma, memory, and embodied suffering
5. Caste, Race, and Marginalized Bodies
- Dalit and subaltern body narratives
- Racialized bodies and colonial/postcolonial contexts
- Intersection of caste, class, gender, and embodiment
6. Illness, Disability, and the Medicalized Body
- Representation of illness and mental health
- Disability studies and literary embodiment
- Medical authority vs lived bodily experience
7. Resistance and Reclaiming the Body
- Feminist and subaltern resistance narratives
- Body as a site of empowerment and agency
- Counter-discourses and rewriting the body
8. Myth, Religion, and Reimagined Bodies
- Reinterpretations of mythological and religious figures
- Gendered bodies in sacred narratives
- Subversion of traditional archetypes
9. Contemporary and Digital Body Politics
- Body image and social media narratives
- Cyber embodiment and virtual identities
Submission Guidelines
Abstract Length:
350–400 words
Keywords:
4–6 keywords
Full Paper Length:
4,500–6,500 words
Formatting Style:
MLA Style Based Format (Author, Year)
Language:
English (British or American consistency required)
Originality:
Submissions must be original and unpublished (Please submit a complete Similarity and AI report of your paper, duly generated using either Turnitin / Urkund / Drill Brit plagiarism detection software.)
Publication Charge:
Rs. 150 for Publication Charge, Apart from this, there is no charge.
Important Dates
Abstract Submission Deadline:
15 April 2026
Notification of Acceptance:
18 April 2026
Full Paper Submission:
5th June 2026
Expected Publication:
Early 2026
Submission Process
Please submit abstracts and full papers via email to:
rajini.icssrseminar.english.2025@gmail.com
Subject Line: Submission of Abstract/Full Paper – “Title”
Include the following in your submission:
- Title of the paper
- Author name(s) and affiliation
- Brief bio-note (100 words)
- Contact details, ORCID ID
About the Editor
Dr. P. Rajini
Assistant Professor of English
Government Arts and Science College
(Affiliated to Periyar University, Salem - 11)
Idappadi - 637102, Salem dt