Daily reports on earthquakes, global warming, flooding, terrorist attacks, nuclear disasters, war and the refugee crisis produce a sense of living in a world marked by catastrophe. Cultural forms of expressions like literature, film and the news media give shape to and mediate these catastrophes, and thus shape our cultural imagination of them. In contemporary literature as well as in films and video games for children and young adults, catastrophes feature prominently, reflecting issues as climate change, war, the holocaust, refugee crisis and terror.
In this special issue, the Nordic Journal of Childlit Aesthetics seeks to explore the cultural aesthetics of catastrophes in children’s literature. We invite proposals for articles that contribute to knowledge on dominating catastrophe genres, recurring catastrophe images, metaphors, narrative patterns, themes as well as ideas of childhood in contemporary catastrophe imagination. We invite contributions on literature in the broadest sense, including novels, poetry, picturebooks, graphic novels, films, video games, game applications and so on.
Submission instructions
All articles will be subjected to double blind review.
Abstracts (approx. 300 words) are to be submitted by April 1st, 2018.
Feedback/confirmation is due by May 1st, 2018.
Full articles are to be submitted by September 1st, 2018.
Please send queries and abstracts to Editor-in-chief Martin Blok Johansen, blok@via.dk