Call for Papers

Global Transmedial Modernism

Special Issue Editor

Bowen Wang, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

This special issue of English Language Notes invites contributions that examine the dynamic exchanges of literature and other nonliterary forms between Eastern and Western countries throughout the 20th century. Modernism, rather than being confined to regional or national categories, is characterized by its transcontinental, interdisciplinary agencies with different languages, cultures, and mediums intertwining. Far from being a Western-centric movement, modernism absorbed influences from around the globe, notably East Asia, where Japanese haikus, Chinese ideograms, and other artistic mediums took pivotal roles in reshaping avant-garde practices. This East-West dynamic has generated a transmedially-oriented aesthetic of formal spontaneousness, expressive essence, and spatial complexity that disrupts established conventions and redefines modernist poetics as cross-cultural and international.

Recent scholarship by Zhaoming Qian, Ming Dong Gu, Yunte Huang, Steven Yao, and Christopher Bush, among others, has investigated the cosmopolitan interactions in the modernist era. Central to this special issue is the notion of transmediality—the confluence of literature with other artforms such as photography, music, visual art, cinema, and theatre—across the Pacific Rim. By exploring how Western and East-Asian traditions and innovations interacted with each other, the issue aims to unravel the collaborative energies that moved beyond colonialist or orientalist assumptions. What resulted was a broad spectrum of verbivocovisual experiments that opened new paths in reconsidering global modernisms/modernities.

We thus invite papers that critically work with these transmedial, intercultural exchanges during the transformative era of modernism. Submissions might address how East-West collaborations refashioned literary-artistic forms, questioned Eurocentric sociocultural dominance, and developed alternative approaches to literature and other arts that crossed geographic, disciplinary, and historical boundaries.

Topics include but are not limited to:

  • New interpretations of East-Asian artforms (e.g., ideograms, haiku, calligraphy) and their aesthetic influences on Western modernist innovations.
  • The role of transmediality in redefining modernism as a pluralistic, international movement that challenged Eurocentric frameworks.
  • Intermedial explorations of modernist works, between literature and painting, dance, cinema, or theatre in the context of East-West exchanges.
  • The reflection of modernist experimentation with various mediums on broader cultural, geopolitical, and ideological shifts in the 20th century.

Please submit essays of approximately 6,000-8,000 words by September 1, 2025 to wangbw@sjtu.edu.cn. Any inquiries or abstracts of proposed essays are also welcome. All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process managed by ELN.

 

Environmental Injustice, Resistance and African Literature

Special issue editors

Goutam Karmakar, University of Hyderabad, India

Eunice NgongKum, University of Yaoundé I, Cameroon

The history of environmentalism and environmental injustice in Africa needs to be perceived as distinct from other regions of the world, owing to the impacts of colonialism, racial oppression, and the persistent effects of imperial capitalism in the context of globalization. The African populace maintained a symbiotic relationship with the natural environment, relying on animals and plants for sustenance while venerating natural elements—mountains, stones, rivers, and trees—as sacred (Ojade 2013, vi). With the advent of colonialism, the natural world was relegated to a subordinate role to humanity, resulting in human domination and exploitation of nature (Crosby 2004). The perception of land and ecology as sources of extensive resources has contradicted the “essential [spiritual] value” ascribed to the natural world by Indigenous populations historically. This transformation, in turn, has not only disrupted African ecosystems but also undermined the inherent dignity and respectable means of coexistence for many African indigenous communities (Fanon 1963, 9). However, the colonial dispossession of the land, followed by the intrusions of the capitalist industries, the rampant extraction activities, and the ramifications of various governmental policies for developmentalism in the twentieth century, has inflicted severe environmental harm on the poor and impoverished sections of different parts of the African continent.

For instance, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the dominance of multinational oil firms has been detrimental to the land and the people for its constant oil spills, blowouts, gas flares, and various other forms of toxicities. In a similar way, with the establishment of democracy in South Africa in 1994, the plans of industrialization to improve the economic scenario of the country have disproportionately impacted people of color, thereby perpetuating what is commonly referred to as environmental racism (Milazzo 2015). Hence, it is imperative to acknowledge that the various imperial and capitalist interventions in Africa, marked by extraction, accumulation, and resistance, have shaped the continent’s complex environmental realities, complicating the comprehension of developmentalism, ecocides, and the corresponding forms of resistance. This aspect aligns with the current concerns regarding environmental injustice as a critical social and economic issue, as it is now globally discussed and reiterated that the struggle for environmental justice is the continuation of the fight for socio-economic transformation and inclusive planetary wellbeing (Bassey 2023; Johnston et. al. 2023)

The perpetuation of environmental injustices embedded in the layers of environmental racism has, therefore, drawn the attention of discerning writers and thinkers, as well as initiated several interdisciplinary discussions. Writers, public intellectuals, and eco-activists in Africa have raised their voices against environmental inequities, highlighting the debilitating and destructive impacts that are unleashed by capitalist missions of developmentalism through the escalation of industrialism and consumerism. Notable environmental activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa of Nigeria and Wangari Maathai of Kenya, have denounced the crimes committed by capitalist manufacturers, criticising the skewed interpretation of development that has only benefited the dominant class while suppressing the racialised poor. Saro-Wiwa, a member of the Ogoni community severely impacted by aggressive extraction in the Niger Delta, established the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), a non-violent organization advocating for the human rights of the Ogoni People while accentuating the community’s longstanding environmental awareness. Wangari Maathai’s Green Belt Movement (GBM) is a remarkable environmental initiative that has played a crucial role in emphasizing indigenous ecological perspectives, which promote environmental preservation as a community responsibility. The early postcolonial African authors like Chinua Achebe and Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o have brought attention to the suppression of traditional ecological and cultural values by the continual colonial civilizational agenda (Danlami 2020). Contemporary African literary discourses increasingly articulate resistance to capitalist developmentalism and underscore the vitality of Indigenous ecological knowledge that endorses non-anthropocentric visions, accentuating the ontological essence of nature.

Recent African writers are powerfully voicing the entrenched disparities in capitalist concepts of progress and have documented the persistent brutality experienced by many African communities for decades. Writers like Helon Habila, Kaine Agary, Isidore Okpewho, and Imbolo Mbue have raised awareness of the perilous environmental injustices brought about by petro-extraction and demonstrated the significance of Indigenous peoples’ local resistance and their struggle for rights to natural resources essential for their survival. Petro-fiction works such as Oil on Water and How Beautiful We Were illustrate environmental injustices and point out the struggles of indigenous communities across Africa, serving as a powerful testament to their traditional ecological perspectives, which have been repressed by commodification and accumulation ethics. Niyi Osundare, Tanure Ojaide, and G. ‘Ebinyo Ogbowei have employed poetry to articulate the eco-activism of disadvantaged communities in Africa, who, in their quest for humanity and conflicts with the affluent authorities, are prominently advancing the causes and concerns of environmentalism. This Special Issue seeks to bring out the investigation of African literature as an invaluable intellectual corpus that exhibits the ‘environmentalism of the poor’—delineating how the impoverished and predominantly rural communities in the countries of the global South maintain a closer relationship with their surroundings, resulting in a deeper comprehension of the consequences of inadequate environmental policies and management (Guha 2000; Martinez-Alier 2000, 2002). In line with this, this Issue aims to explore how African literary representations can contribute to the conceptual framework proposed by energy humanities scholars, who argue that climate change and the violence associated with resource extraction necessitate the utilization of all available methods to tackle energy extraction and consumption. The need is to envision a future without fossil fuels, grasping the reasons for the entanglement in detrimental energy systems (LeMenager 2014; Szeman et al 2017). This special issue, thinking in solidarity with Cajetan Iheka (2018), therefore, strives to showcase how African literary narratives can be read within the wider spectrum of environmental justice frameworks, alternative modes of agency, and resistance and pave the way for planetary sustainability.

This issue aims to address crucial scholarly concerns, including how developing African literature depicts the various conflicts occurring among African nations. To what extent can literary depictions of the conflicts and challenges faced by disadvantaged individuals be deemed noteworthy in the context of acknowledging different kinds of knowledge? How might literary responses from Africa be utilized to formulate anti-capitalist and anti-hegemonic environmental epistemologies? Can literary responses to extraction and environmental injustices be regarded as an essential corpus for interpreting persistent racism? In what ways have writers, artists, and activists confronted the environmental consequences of ‘special economic zones’ in Nigeria and other regions concerning the extraction of lithium and other rare metals? What influence do modern geopolitical changes and technical advancements exert on ecocide in Africa? Are existing postcolonial dependency systems still relevant, or is there a necessity for new approaches to address them, considering the global shift away from the West? In what ways may these representations foster the development of decolonial thought and restore the effective practices of Indigenous ecological thought, which regards ecology as a source of nourishment and the protection of nature as an ethical imperative? Can literary expressions aid in decolonizing environmental thought and fostering awareness of the marginalized, impacted, and exploited to promote sustainable living and planetary solidarity? Can African literature be examined as cultivating a renewed corpus of eco aesthetics? This issue, therefore invites contributions on but not limited to

  • African Literature and Environmentalism of the Poor
  • African Poetics and Environmental Injustices
  • African Petro-fiction and Narratives of Resistance
  • African Petro-fiction and Eco-Aesthetics
  • African Literature and Energy Humanities
  • African Literature and Eco-Activism of the Indigenous Population
  • African Literature and Decolonial Ecological Knowledge
  • African Literature and Sustainability Ethics

Submission guidelines:

Abstracts of 500 words (excluding bibliography) and a 100-word bio note should be sent to the special issue editors, Goutam Karmakar (Goutamkrmkr@gmail.com) and Eunice NgongKum (eunicengongkum@yahoo.com) by September 30, 2025. Full manuscripts will be due by March 2026. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact the special issue editors. All submissions will undergo a double-blind peer review process managed by ELN.