Call for Papers (CFP)18th SAAS Conference: Negotiating Identity and Power: Resistance, Rebellion, and Resilience in U.S. Literature and CultureUniversidad de Oviedo, Spain | March 15–17, 2027Panel Title:Speculative Ontologies: The Posthuman, the Eerie, and Cultural Memory in US Media and NarrativesPanel Chairs:

• Elena Romea Parente (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid) – eromea@hum.uc3m.es

• Carmen Gómez Galisteo (UNED) – cgomez@flog.uned.es

Description:

This panel explores speculative fiction in US culture as a critical lens for examining power, history, and futurity across literature, film, television, and digital media. Drawing on Cultural Studies, feminist, queer, posthuman, and decolonial frameworks, it highlights speculative narratives as tools for interrogating late capitalism, technological mediation, racialized and gendered subjectivities, and ecological crises.

Emphasizing counter-hegemonic futures—through Afrofuturism, Indigenous and Latinx futurisms, and minoritarian practices—this panel considers how speculative texts reimagine temporalities, ontologies, and modes of resistance. We aim to foster an interdisciplinary dialogue on alternative futures and cultural critique.

Suggested Topics for Proposals:

We invite contributions on a wide range of media and narratives, including but not limited to:

• Posthumanism and Cyborg Ontologies: Redefining the boundaries of the human, machine integration, and non-human agency.

• The Eerie and Speculative Horror: Uncanny spaces, Hauntology, and the architectural or psychological eerie in US cultural memory.

• Alternative and Minoritarian Futurisms: Counter-hegemonic narratives through Afrofuturism, Indigenous futurisms, and Latinx futurisms.

• Climate Fiction (Cli-Fi) and Ecological Crises: Anthropocene narratives, environmental decay, and post-apocalyptic landscapes.

• Utopian and Dystopian Imaginaries: Surveillance, late capitalism, and systemic resistance.

• Queer Futurities: Disrupting heteronormative temporalities and imagining alternative spaces of belonging.

• Transmedia Storytelling and Participatory World-Building: Digital media, video games, and collaborative speculative universes.

Submission Guidelines:

Proposals must be submitted directly to the panel organizers using the official SAAS paper proposal form.

1. Download the form here: SAAS Paper Proposal Form 

2. Send your completed form via email to BOTH panel chairs:

   • Elena Romea Parente: eromea@hum.uc3m.es

   • Carmen Gómez Galisteo: cgomez@flog.uned.es

Important Dates:

• Submission Deadline: October 15, 2026
  

• Conference Dates: March 15, 16, and 17, 2027

Keywords: Speculative, futurisms, Posthumanism, Climate fiction, dystopian imaginaries