Call for Papers: Arab Studies Journal Special Issue

 Visualizing Change: Graphic Arts and Literature in the Contemporary Arab World

Guest Editors: Eid Mohamed and Barkuzar Dubbati

This special issue focuses on the rise of graphic literature and arts in the Arab world as a means of expression, representation, and political resistance against ideological hegemony. We are interested in scholarly works that examine the intersectionality of the literary and artistic production created before, during, and after the Arab uprisings and the significance of the development of means of production of these works. The uprisings that began in Tunisia in December 2010 popularized the use of non-traditional and independent media for publishing. It proved that seekers of political change do not need the sponsorship of traditional media. New aspiring artists and authors came to a similar realization as they began to use media, such as the internet and public spaces to broadcast and showcase their art, literary works, and political statements. We invite papers on visual arts and literature that either combine pictorial and verbal narratives or use images as a form of narration, such as graphic novels, comics, caricatures, and graffiti.

Possible topics include but are not limited to: graphic arts and literature as tools of resistance; the use of images in art and literature to represent socio-political realities in Arab countries; the rise of independent means of production of graphic literature and art; the impact of social media and the Arab uprisings on the rise of graphic literature and art; a comparative analysis of Arab/Arabic graphic narratives and arts before and after the Arab uprisings; issues or challenges in translation of graphic literature from or into Arabic; the Arab-Israeli conflict in graphic arts and literature; historiographic studies of Arabic graphic novels and comics; the representation of gender in Arab graphic art; the commodification of graphic arts; the reception of graphic arts in the Arab world; and the emergence of the Arab webcomic.

Submission of six thousand to eight thousand words should be sent to editor@arabstudiesjournal.org by 1 April 2018. Please format submissions in accordance with ASJ style guide.