<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:trebuchet ms,sans-serif;color:#073763"><br></div><div class="gmail_quote"><div text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span>SFRA 2024 <br>
<b>TRANSITIONS</b> <br>
May 7–11, 2024 <br>
University of Tartu, Estonia <br>
<br>
Organizers: Jaak Tomberg and Lisanna Lajal <br>
Co-organizers: Raili Marling, Francesca Arnavas, Marzia
Beltrami, Mattia Bellini <br>
Conference Email:</span><span> </span><b><u><span><a href="mailto:sfra2024@ut.ee" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">sfra2024@ut.ee</span></a></span></u></b><span> <br>
Conference Website: <a href="http://sfra2024.ut.ee" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">sfra2024.ut.ee</span></a>
</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span>Please note! </span></b><span>The
deadline for Call for Papers is earlier than usual: <b>November
24, 2023</b>.<br>
<br>
<br>
<i>“When things are changing too quickly, you don’t have any
place to stand from which to imagine a very elaborate
future.” – William Gibson</i> <br>
<br>
“Science Fiction is the literature of change,” Veronica
Hollinger memorably noted, “but change is exactly what now
defines the present. It no longer guarantees the future as the
site of meaningful difference.” Indeed, Heraclitus’ famous
statement that change is the only constant in life can
nowadays be felt on a myriad of levels and scales, and with a
special kind of artificially enhanced intensity. Indeed, it
looks like what we’ve come to expect from the future is no
longer a linear progression towards – or a gradual fulfillment
of – some ideals, but simply more and more unprecedented
change. Accelerated technological development, together with
large geopolitical conflicts and multiple crises on a global
scale have generated a permanent atmosphere of instability and
unpredictability, resulting in a strong sense of collective
cognitive vertigo. In parallel, there’s a strong yearning for
utopian change, equally unsettling in its apparent
unimaginability and unattainability, and evidence of a deeper
standstill of capitalist realism lurking underneath the
surface acceleration. How to grapple with and make sense of
all this change? How to reduce the vertigo to be able to enact
real change? One possible way, suggested by SF as a form, is
to take Heraclitus seriously and focus on the moments and
processes of change itself: that is, on <i>transitions</i>. <br>
<br>
SF has long been a powerful medium for representing,
envisioning, exploring, and critically reflecting upon
transitions of all kinds: from mind-bending technological
leaps to radical societal upheavals, from personal
transformations to global paradigm shifts. Some transitions
are visible and explicit, others implicit and recognized in
retrospect. Some are planned or desired, others accidental or
enforced. And multiple transitions can be related to each
other in very complex ways. The genre has developed its own
distinct poetic, representational and metaphorical
capabilities to make our real-life transitions visible, to
reflect upon and make sense of them. But transitions can also
happen <i>to</i> science fiction as it traverses history,
interacts with other forms, and shifts its position in the
contemporary genre system: from one ideological or discursive
formation to another, from national to global arena, from
genre to mainstream, and so on.<br>
<br>
Thus, “Transitions” seeks to discuss all kinds of transitions
as the thematic, narrative, formal, historical, philosophical
driving force behind SF: both how SF envisions transitions,
and how the representation of transitions critically and
metaphorically reflects upon our own. We invite papers on all
forms and genres of science fiction in relation to
transitions, including but not limited to literature, music,
film, games, design, and art. We strive for a diversity of
voices and perspectives from any and all disciplines and
career stages. While papers on any subject in SF are welcome,
we especially encourage topics that resonate with the overall
conference theme, including but not limited to SF and: <br>
<br>
</span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Technological Evolution: how does SF frame
the transitions brought about by technological innovations?
What impact do these transitions have on society, ethics, and
human identity? </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Cultural Shifts: how does SF reflect upon
and influences cultural transitions, from changing norms and
values to shifts in representation, diversity, and inclusion
(of e.g., BIPOCs/BAMEs, LGBTQIA2S+ peoples). </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Political and Social Revolutions: the
representation of revolutions, political transitions, and
social movements (especially, but not only migrants and
diasporic communities, working-class and other groups seeking
economic justice) in science fiction narratives. </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Temporal and Spatial Transitions: time
travel, alternate histories, parallel universes, and spatial
shifts in science fiction. </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Bodies and Identities: transitions in
bodily forms, genders, identities, and abilities, including
cyborgs, posthumans and non-human entities, uncanny bodies. </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Planetary and Environmental Changes: SF's
engagement with ecological transitions, climate change,
terraforming, and the portrayal of life on evolving worlds. </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Futuristic Transitions: utopian and
dystopian futures, (post)apocalyptic transitions, alien
contact, and integration. </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Global Market Transitions: from a niche
genre to the globally dominant mass cultural genre, including
the expansion and demographic shifts of its writers, readers,
producers, and markets. </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Poetics of Transition: narrative
strategies to represent transitions in SF, the poetics of
transitional moments. </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Narrative and Genre Evolution: how do SF’s
genres, styles, and storytelling techniques transition over
time, and how these changes reflect societal and cultural
dynamics. </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Transitions between Media and Platforms:
the shifts in science fiction across different media, such as
literature, film, television, comics, video games, and
emerging digital platforms. </span></p>
<p style="margin-left:58.0pt"><span><span>•<span> </span></span></span><span>Changes in SF studies and teaching. </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br>
Confirmed keynote speakers: <b>Anindita Banerjee</b> (Cornell
University), <b>Bogi Takács</b> (The University of Kansas), <b>Meelis
Friedenthal</b> (University of Tartu) </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span><br>
Besides proposals for individual presentations and preformed
panels, non-traditional formats (roundtable, artistic
research, participatory formats, etc.) are welcome. For
individual presentations, we ask for an abstract of 300 words
and a short bio (150 words). For preformed panels we request a
proposal (single file) that includes a 300-word summary of the
panel topic, abstracts of 200 words for each contribution, and
bio notes (150 words) for all participants. <br>
<br>
Please send all submissions to <b><a href="mailto:sfra2024@ut.ee" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">sfra2024@ut.ee</span></a></b> by <b>November
24, 2023</b>. <br>
<br>
We want to create active discussions during and between
panels, and thus strongly encourage an onsite presence.
Nevertheless, hybrid access and participation will be
available in all panels. <br>
<br>
All participants must be members of the Science Fiction
Research Association and pay the conference registration fee.
<br>
<br>
To provide thematic evening entertainment, “Transitions” will
take place simultaneously with Tartu International Literary
Festival Prima Vista, whose 2024 edition, titled “Futures
Better and Worse”, is organized in collaboration with European
Capital of Culture Tartu 2024. For more information, see <a href="https://kirjandusfestival.tartu.ee/en/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">https://kirjandusfestival.tartu.ee/en/</span></a><a href="https://kirjandusfestival.tartu.ee/en/" target="_blank"><span style="color:black">.</span></a>
Tartu is easily reached via bus from Tallinn International
Airport. <br>
<br>
The SFRA awards a limited number of travel grants of up to
$500 (US) for SFRA members attending the conference in person.
For more information on these grants, see <a href="https://sfra.org/conference-travel-grant/" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">https://sfra.org/conference-travel-grant/</span></a>.
<br>
<br>
For more information about the conference, see the conference
website at <b><a href="http://sfra2024.ut.ee" target="_blank"><span style="color:blue">sfra2024.ut.ee</span></a></b>.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span></p>
<div>-- <br>
Conference Team<br>
<b>Disruptive Imaginations: 2023 Joint Annual Meeting of SFRA
and GFF</b><br>
<a href="https://disruptiveimaginations.com" target="_blank">https://disruptiveimaginations.com</a>
<br>
<br>
<a href="https://tu-dresden.de/gsw/slk/anglistik_amerikanistik/na-literatur" target="_blank">North American Literature and Critical
Future Studies</a><br>
Technische Universität Dresden<br>
Faculty of Linguistics, Literature and Cultural Studies<br>
Institute of English and American Studies<br>
01062 Dresden<br>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div><br clear="all"><div><br></div><span class="gmail_signature_prefix">-- </span><br><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><div><font face="georgia, serif">Sherryl Vint (she/her)</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif">Professor, UC Riverside</font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif">Editor, <i>Science Fiction Studies </i></font></div><div><font face="georgia, serif">Editor, Palgrave <i>Science and Popular Culture </i>series</font></div><div dir="ltr"><font face="georgia, serif" size="1"><br></font></div><div dir="ltr"><font face="georgia, serif" size="1">"<font color="#000000"><span>Insisting on the value of what or whom you love is an ongoing act of revolutionary refusal and creation."--Max Haven, <i>Revenge Capitalism</i></span></font></font></div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:-webkit-standard;font-size:medium"></span><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><div dir="ltr"><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>