Québec Studies 77 (Spring/Summer 2024)
"Québec studies have [. . . ] shifted or multiplied their centers of gravity in recent years." [...]” (Hauser 2022, 128)
In a recent issue, Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien, the journal of the Association for Canadian Studies in German-speaking Countries (Gesellschaft für Kanada-Studien–GKS), devoted a section to the future of Canadian Studies, both English and French. This issue raises many challenges regarding the teaching of Québec studies and the training of a new generation of scholars (Mathis-Moser 2022, 142), but also about current research. Hauser, in particular, observes a new interest in migrant, women's, and Indigenous writing, showing that the fossilization of certain subjects or concepts is fading (2022, 128).
The CRILCQ (Centre de recherche interuniversitaire sur la littérature et la culture québécoises) has previously worked in 2021 on the creation of a collection of new research perspectives entitled "Nouvelles études québécoises." The latter provides an overview of recently published works in literary, cultural and linguistic studies, but with an endogenous character that ignores or omits the international perspective. A focus on new and future directions of Québec studies abroad is still to be undertaken.
Where does research in Québec Studies come from and where is it headed? What are its new epistemological modalities? In which trends is the next generation of scholars in the field interested? Do these suggest a hard shift in focus or a multiplication of interests?
In this proposed special dossier for Québec Studies 77 (Spring/Summer 2024), guest editors Jody Danard (University of Bremen) and Manuel Sousa Oliveira (University of Porto / CETAPS) mean to try to answer some of these questions and thus contribute to the revitalization of Québec studies outside of Québec by foregrounding the ongoing and innovative research on Québec being conducted by ECRs (Early Career Researchers) from Europe and around the world. Studying Québec abroad often comes with practical challenges that inevitably shape one’s research. That Québec studies, e.g., in European universities can often only be found as a marginal research interest within French or English(-Canadian) departments and research centers (Mathis-Moser 2022, 142), suggests that this lack of resources and institutional support affects the vitality and viability of the field.
Thus, this proposed special issue aims at showcasing outstanding new research on the broad field that is Québec studies, being conducted by ECRs from outside Québec – in full cognizance of the added challenges that may come with the place and context of research. The guest editors particularly welcome article proposals from MA students, PhD students and candidates, and recent PhDs/early postdoctoral researchers on the innovative research work happening today in Europe and elsewhere. The dossier is intended to be multidisciplinary, which is why articles in political and social sciences, history, literature, culture, linguistics, geography, didactics, law or even economics can be proposed. Furthermore, the editors welcome interpretive or theoretical essays, book reviews, and interviews in all disciplines pertaining to the study of Québec. Interdisciplinary approaches are particularly encouraged.
Specific topics on Québec studies may include (but are not limited to):
- Children's and YA literature, comics and graphic novels
- Novels, short fiction, drama, poetry, and other literary forms
- Film, TV, and other media – including inter-/transmedial approaches
- SFF, horror, apocalyptic, and utopian literatures
- Imagological readings of foreignness in Québec literature (and vice versa)
- Transnational and migrant literatures
- Comparative readings of Québec and other (francophone) national literatures
- The Digital Humanities and the study of Québec
- Francophone Indigenous literatures
- Race and ethnicity in literary representations and the literary market
- Gender and sexuality (incl. feminist and queer approaches)
- Ecocriticism, ecofeminism, critical animal studies, climate fiction, and/or representations of the environment (incl. e.g. eco-anxiety)
- Ethics and affects in culture and society
- New perspectives in sociolinguistics and discourse analysis
- Québec’s (normative policy) on the French language
- School textbooks analysis, Teaching Québec studies abroad (e.g. pedagogical approaches)
- Rereading of history, social changes and milestones of Québec (e.g., Expo 67)
Works Cited
Hauser, Claude. 2022. “Les études québécoises à l’ère du numérique et de la mondialisation: réinventer une communauté de valeurs et de pratiques.” Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien 72: 123-129. http://www.kanada-studien.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ZKS_2022_Futures.pdf.
Mathis-Moser, Ursula. 2022. “Aperçus divers: les études canadiennes aujourd’hui.” Zeitschrift für Kanada-Studien 72: 139-145. http://www.kanada-studien.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/ZKS_2022_Futures.pdf.
Please submit a 500-word abstract in French or English along with a brief biographical note (no more than 100 words) by April 1, 2023 to the guest editors, Jody Danard and Manuel Sousa Oliveira, at danard [at] uni-bremen.de and msoliveira [at] letras.up.pt. The proposal should be sent as a single Word file, and include “QS77 Submission” or “QS77 Soumission” in the subject line. If accepted, authors must submit full manuscripts (7000-7500 words) to the guest editors by July 1, 2023 for a first round of revisions before being submitted for blind peer review to Québec Studies. Please note that positive feedback by the guest editors to abstracts and/or full manuscripts does not guarantee that the proposal will be accepted for publication. Final approval will be given by the journal editors after submission in the Fall of 2023. Québec Studies is the journal of the American Council for Québec Studies (ACQS) published by the Liverpool University Press. It is a high-impact journal indexed and abstracted in Scopus. Article proposals must be formatted according to the journal guidelines. More information may be found here: https://acqs.org/quebec-studies-journal/
For further inquiries, you may contact Jody Danard and Manuel Sousa Oliveira at danard [at] uni-bremen.de and msoliveira [at] letras.up.pt.