CFP: The Double, Literature, and Philosophy (edited volume, deadline for abstract, 31 Dec 2005)
We are inviting scholarly contributions to an edited volume that deals specifically with the trope of the double in literature from a philosophical perspective.
Treatment of the double (which include twins), which is most familiarly represented in Gothic narratives, has unfortunately tended to relate it to a psychoanalytical framework, often cast as the id/ego struggle, and the return of the repressed. As much as this theoretical trajectory has helped develop a critical tool to interrogate the trope, it has also restricted it from being studied through different philosophical perspectives. This edited volume seeks to correct this limitation.
Philosophical theories from Plato to the postmodernists have considered the often incompatible duality that resides in our beings, thus resulting in a rift within the self. But it is in literature that this dilemma is prominently “enfleshed”, and most notably in the Gothic (although there are writings not overtly Gothic which also deal with the double).
The essays which will fit well into this volume would be those which consider the trope of the double in literature from a philosophical framework. Psychoanalysis may be invoked, but it should not form the main conceptual trajectory for the analysis to be made. Contributions should be on twentieth-century narratives from any nation.
Here are some suggestions of “double” narratives for consideration: Fight Club (Chuck Palahniuk), the narratives of Steve Erickson, Time’s Arrow (Martin Amis), the novels of Orhan Pamuk, The Box Man (Kobo Abe), Birchwood (John Banville), Hawksmoor and The House of Dr Dee (Peter Ackroyd), Two Women of London (Emma Tennant), Wise Children (Angela Carter), and On the Black Hill (Bruce Chatwin).
The philosophical framework (including religious ones) can, however, come from any period or nation. For example, Palahniuk’s narrative can be read from an existential standpoint, and Amis’s Time’s Arrow can profit from a reading which deploys Heidegger’s notion of Dasein. Or perhaps an Islamic understanding of the double as depicted in Pamuk’s novels, or a Christian one in Ackroyd’s. Relating one philosophy to another to elicit the nuances of the doppelganger is encouraged.
The volume is looking for essays between 7000 – 9000 words (including notes). However, please do not send complete manuscripts at this stage. Instead, submit a 500 word (maximum) abstract outlining your argument, and a brief CV to “the editors” at philosophicaldouble_at_yahoo.com by 31 December 2005 for consideration of inclusion.
This innovative study of the literary double has strong publishing potential and we look forward to receiving your queries and abstracts. If you would like to discuss an idea with regards to this volume, please feel free to write to us as well.
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Received on Wed Aug 17 2005 - 05:18:05 EDT
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