Energy in Literature: Essays on Energy and Its Social and Environmental Implications in Twentieth and Twenty-First Century Literary Texts (edited by Paula A. Farca)
Call for papers on energy and energy sources in twentieth-century literary texts (any genre, any country). Scholars of all disciplines are encouraged to submit. TrueHeart academic, an independent academic publisher on people and environment, based in Oxford UK, is publishing a series entitled “Bridging Disciplines,” and has expressed interest in this project.
While answers and questions to most controversial energy questions have invaded social media, academic journals, and magazines, talks on energy issues in literary texts have been almost absent from critical essays. The connection between energy and literature is important because as other social narratives, literature participates in global energy debates and could potentially illuminate some of the challenges and possibly alternatives to environmental, social, and cultural energy problems. Energy in Literature proposes to show connections in twentieth-century literary texts among energy, society, and environment. More specifically, this edited anthology will explore how authors of twentieth-century literature present energy sources ranging from coal and oil to solar, wind, nuclear, biofuels, hydropower and how these sources affect local and global communities and the environment.
Energy in Literature strives to address the following questions:
What are the most common energy sources in literary texts? What are the environmental, social, political, cultural, and economic ramifications of these energy sources?
How do authors present energy issues such as production, consumption, and conservation? Do new energy sources help or hurt communities? What problems do certain energy sources create or solve and for whom? For instance, how do constructions of dams or the effects of carbon emissions impact communities and families?
How do the authors of literary texts show the balance between people’s need for energy and their duty to preserve the environment? How do authors address pollution problems?
What ethical choices do protagonists of literary texts make about energy?
How do issues of gender, race, ethnicity, and class intersect with energy issues in twentieth-century literary texts?
Contact info:
Dr. Paula Farca (LAIS, Colorado School of Mines)
pfarca@mines.edu
Please submit your abstracts and short biographical notes to pfarca@mines.edu by June 15th 2013. Completed papers will be due in October 15th, 2013.
