We invite abstracts for articles to be published in a collection showcasing scholarly research related to disability in comics and graphic narratives. This edited volume will highlight insights from both disability studies as well as comics studies.
Centering a disability justice ethos, we especially welcome: submissions by disabled authors/creators; collaborative submissions; work that engages with disability life writing and/or disclosure; work that addresses accommodations and accessibility as they relate to comics pedagogy, form, and/or readership.
The collection envisions a diverse selection of contributors (i.e. a mix of early, mid-, and established scholars from the humanities, comics studies, and disability studies; disability activists; comics creators; comics journalists; and so on) that represent a range of perspectives, methodologies, and communities across the globe. The contents of the collection may be likewise diverse, including essays by individual and collaborative authors, interviews, and/or creative work. Essays in all languages are welcome (to be published in translation).
We encourage examinations of mainstream titles and characters, independent comics, as well as considerations of the ways disability shapes comics form in creative ways. We are especially interested in contributions that explore additional intersections of race, class, sexuality, and gender; and works that challenge ableism in comics theory and/or challenge comics’ ocularcentrism.
We especially welcome essays on potential themes and keywords such as:
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Accessibility
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Activism
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Archive
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Autobiography
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Coloniality
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Disability Justice
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Disability as Method
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Genre(s)
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Intersectionality
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Mental Health/Illness
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Monstrosity/grotesque
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Multiculturalism
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Neurodivergence
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Pedagogy
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Sexuality
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Sound
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Superheroes and supervillains
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Touch
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Transnationalism
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Vision
We welcome inquiries by email. Please submit 250-300 word abstracts and 50-word bios by February 28th, 2024. After reviewing submissions, the editors will select contributors and then submit a proposal for publication by Palgrave.
Final essays will be approximately 5,000-10,000 words depending on the topic. We also welcome submissions of scholarship in comics formats between 10 and 20 pages. For questions, or to submit a proposal, contact keyword.disability.comics@gmail.com
