Vol. 3, nº 1

THE CONSTRUCTION OF SPACE IN THE LITERATURE OF SOCIAL CRITICISM

Fictional space as a conjunction of enuncive and enunciative attributes makes it possible to objectify - in the field of aesthetic representation - attributes of social criticism through constructions of scenarios and clashes between characters, be it due to economic parameters, differences of gender, color, race, sexual or religious orientation, or any other evidence that distinguishes the aforementioned from others. Widely, such conflicts occur, on account of discursive procedures of language that implement, rhetorically, critical-denunciative convulsion and guarantee the unity of the artistic product directed to such contexture. In this sense, literary success, as one of the oldest expressive manifestations of the complex human being, portrays and reflects advances and failures of the fantastic adventure of existence. As a vital presentation of man towards himself and the universe he approaches, it translates – essetianly - human sufferings and vicissitudes in view of the ills brought about by man himself, predominantly through the reduction of man’s own condition, the exploitation of minorities, through oppression, physical and psychic violence and disrespect and annulment of dignity. In this way, an investigation centered on the construction of space - in this modality of representation - may add to the power of voices that line up; and amplify harmony in search of equity among men.

Organizers
Agenor Francisco de Carvalho
Igor Rossoni

Deadline for manuscript submissions – February 2017


Vol. 3, nº 2

THE REPRESENTATION OF SPACE IN DIASPORA LITERATURES

Indelibly connoted with the diaspora of the Jews, from their captivity in Babylon in the sixth century BC, to exile in Asia Minor, Africa and Southern Europe in the first century, to emigration to the countries of northern and eastern Europe, and finally to The United States, the term diaspora presupposes, from the outset, the idea of displacement in space.
Thus, it is in the diaspora (Cohen and Vertovec, 1999; Hoffman, 1999; Clifford, 1999, etc.) that diasporic literature emerges, as characterized, among other scholars by Mishra (2007), Ponzanesi (2008) Singh (2008). Whether the representation focuses on concrete or abstract spaces, it relies, among other themes, on the idea of crossing frontiers, on the analysis of the reasons underlying forced or voluntary exodus from the native land, on the study of feelings of loss, displacement, deterritorialization, which impel exiled or migrant writers to "look back, even at the risk of being transformed into statues of salt" (Salmon Rushdie, 1982). Diasporic fiction also shows that the interactions between diasporic communities and the host country are often characterized by psychological, social, moral, economic and political tensions.
Manuscript proposals for this issue should therefore higlight the way space is represented in the fiction of writers from the Portuguese, English, Spanish or French speaking diaspora.

Organizers
Ana Costa Lopes
Zaida Pinto Ferreira

Deadline for manuscript submissions – june 2017

Please note: In addition to the dossiers above, each number also has a free theme section and another called "Translation". In the latter, researchers and the general public will find original and unplublished texts translated into Portuguese, which have, as their main theme, the issue of literary space.