Call For Papers

We welcome papers that look at the intersection of gender(s) and culture(s) in the literatures of Indigenous North America and particularly welcome papers that problematize any or all of those terms. Questions to be explored might include:

How have literary texts portrayed the destructive impact of colonialism on indigenous gender relations?

How do gender and genre relate? How do we critique gender in texts, knowing that cultures are forever changing?

Are contemporary Indigenous films responsive to gender studies conversations? Why, why not? How, how not?

How are presentations of the self, the body, the story en-gendered by and in the texts discussed? By and in the cultures from which the texts were created?

What forms, presentations, and embodiments of genders are available in certain historical times or in certain Native spaces that are not available in non-Native societies?

How have Indigenous authors used their writings to claim sovereignty, not just over land, language, and what might be more readily recognized as political issues, but also over the political issues of gender and sexuality?

How do contemporary Two-Spirit people write about their cultural selves, their worlds (urban and rural), and their visions for the future?

Articles should be at least 25 manuscript pages long, double-spaced throughout, including endnotes, and should follow MLA style. Submissions due November 15, 2009 to Kathryn Shanley, University of Montana, at ShanleyKW@mso.umt.edu or to Laura Beard, Texas Tech University at laura.beard@ttu.edu.

Intertexts, a journal of comparative and theoretical reflection, publishes articles that employ innovative approaches to explore relations between literary and other texts, be they literary, historical, theoretical, philosophical, or social. In particular, the editors are looking for work which engages issues on a sufficiently theoretical or comparative level to interest people in a variety of disciplines. Hybrid methodologies that combine elements from a range of disciplines are encouraged. Methodological reflections and argumentation are valued, especially when combined with detailed textual analysis. Intertexts is particularly interested in the use of theoretical perspectives to analyze texts other than those to which they are generally applied. In this way, we hope to provide not only new understandings of familiar texts but also to use those texts to examine the virtues and limitations of contemporary literary theory. In this spirit, the editors encourage comparative works from all historical periods.