I am excited to (finally) see the release of the collection Love, etc.:Essays on Contemporary Literature and Cultureco-edited by Rita Felski (I’m a fan) and Camilla Schwartz. I was honored to be part of the “Love, etc.” symposium that Felski organized back in October 2019 in Denmark, where I gave a talk about my (then) book-in-progress, Bookishness. It was thrilling to participate in this conversation then, and it was an interesting process to reflect back on Bookishness post-Covid for the publication of this book. My chapter is titled ““Reflecting on Bookishness in the Aftermath of COVID-19”“
Honored to see that my book, Bookishness, has inspired a special issue of a scholarly journal! “Print Cultures and Bookishness in Contemporary Life” (May 2024): https://www.euppublishing.com/toc/tna/3/1
My first peer-reviewed scholarly article on 21st Century mermaid narratives is out: “Siren: An Allegory for the Anthropocene and Example of the Contemporary Mermaid Craze” argues that mermaid narratives, including TV shows, are a rich site for eco-criticism and Environmental Humanities. At ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (May 2024). PDF HERE
I am teaching Harvard University’s Institute for World Literature (IWL), which trains scholars and teachers in the study of literature in a globalizing world. Meeting for four weeks each summer, in locations from Beijing to Istanbul to Harvard and beyond– a two-week seminar titled “Global Digital Literature: Histories, Theories, Methods”
Excited to be organizing a CFP for short pieces so that I can see who’s working in my current and learn from others about my new research topic.. for ASAP!
Cluster Call for Papers: Our Mermaid Craze
We are in the midst of a mermaid craze. Everywhere you look—from literature to film, social media to fashion, digital art to commodity kitsch—mermaids are omnipresent. Disney’s new live-action The Little Mermaid arrives in theaters in May, but it is part of a global phenomenon marked by the opening of two museums in the U.S. claiming to be the world’s first mermaid museum (both in 2021, in WA and MD), a slew of mermaid titles in book and film form, mermaid conventions, and more. A 2021 CNN article titled “Why so many people in China are becoming mermaids” and a simple Google n-gram graphing the dramatic increase in the word “mermaid” in published books (below), with a tipping point around 2010, both mark a cultural movement.
Yet, we lack serious attention to how and why mermaid tales mean so much to us now. This lack is especially troubling when we recognize that today’s mermaids are Black and Brown, sexually fluid, and grounded in indigeneity; they rage against human destruction of the oceans and global capitalism. These narratives span readerships and multimedia formats—from novels and poetry to film and television, massive web-based fan fiction to arthouse films. They explore our culture’s most pressing anxieties and concerns—climate change, racial and social justice, global capitalism, genetic science, AI and algorithmic culture—and they do so across genres and affective registers.
This cluster invites essays that approach our mermaid craze from different perspectives and methodologies, including creative-critical work and big data analytics. We aim to address different mermaid content, media formats, and communities in ways that collectively offer insight into this cultural, literary, and artistic phenomenon.
Contact Professor Jessica Pressman (San Diego State University) jpressman [at] sdsu.edu to submit a proposal of no more than 300 words and a short biographical statement, by May 30, 2023. Potential contributors will be notified by June 15 and they will then have to submit their essays (1000-2000 words) by August 1.
I was floored to learn that the University of Graz (Austria) is doing a special issue of their journal, The New Americanist, around “Bookishness”– and I had just had to share how deeply pleased and honored I am to see others taking up the topic.
