Announcements

Alyssa A. Hunziker’s Essay “Chinese Exclusion, Indigeneity, and Settler Colonial Refusal in C Pam Zhang’s How Much of These Hills is Gold,” MELUS, vol. 47, no. 4, winter 2022, pp. 22-48. Free to access here. (This essay was also awarded an Honorable Mention for the Don D. Walker Prize from the Western Literature Association for best essay in Western North American literary and cultural studies!)

This American Literature Association award is named for the year the ALS was organized, and this year’s theme was “Democracy, Difference, and the Question of Belonging.”

A special issue of the MELUS journal is now available, honoring the legacy of Jean Fagan Yellin.

Southern Methodist University: Dallas, Texas

April 11-14, 2024

Conference Theme: “Roots/Routes of Resistance and Resilience”

Conference Director: Christopher González, Southern Methodist University ctgonzalez@smu.edu

The city of Dallas, Texas, located in the northern part of the state along the Trinity River, was called home by the Caddo, Wichita, Comanche, and Kiowa, who were among the earliest stewards of this land. Dallas provides a unique and compelling backdrop for the exploration of our conference theme, “Roots/Routes of Resistance and Resilience.” Set within the culturally rich and diverse landscape of the area known locally as the Metroplex, our conference aims to delve into the complex dynamics of resistance and resilience that have marked the fabric of the region and the nation. A city of over 1.3 million diverse peoples, with its multifaceted history of civil rights activism, burgeoning immigrant communities, and prominence in the oil and energy sectors, Dallas serves as an ideal setting to investigate the intricate and often unexpected ways individuals and communities navigate adversity, challenge systemic oppression, recognize the roots of the work we have cultivated, and carve out new paths for a more inclusive and equitable future. 

The history of Dallas is deeply intertwined with social justice movements and the pursuit of equity. As a major urban center in the South, the city has been a battleground for civil rights activism and desegregation since the 1950s, when activists like Juanita Jewel Craft and striving to dismantle racial barriers and challenge oppressive systems. At the same time, more than 20,000 people representing 90 tribes were moved to the Dallas area from 1957 to 1973 by the assimilationist American Indian Relocation program. Through its many neighborhoods, districts, and centers, Dallas has been a site of integration, segregation, and deterritorialization since its founding. The assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas in 1963 marked a pivotal moment in American history, casting a somber shadow over the city and serving as a reminder of the turbulent social and political climate of the era. Dallas has also witnessed the emergence of prominent African American and Latinx leaders who have relentlessly fought for the rights of marginalized communities. In recent years, the city’s growing immigrant population has further diversified its social landscape, prompting new conversations around multiculturalism, inclusion, and the importance of intersectionality in the struggle for social justice. Today, Dallas continues to grapple with its complex past, embracing its history as a source of inspiration and resilience for ongoing efforts to foster change as subject matter for its thriving art scene in spaces like the Cara Mía theater, the Dallas Black Dance Theater along with numerous galleries and museums. The city of Dallas is the county seat of Dallas County, which in 2021 declared racism to be a public health crisis. And though Latinos comprise 42% of Dallas and Blacks make up 24%, reports show that there are massive disparities in home ownership, earnings, and education when compared to Whites, who account for 29% of the population in the city. 

Also, we cannot conceive of Dallas without taking into consideration the state itself. Texas is at the forefront of efforts to silence discussions on DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) issues, Critical Race Theory, LGBTQIA+ movements, libraries, and women’s rights. Such efforts of erasure and invisibility should cause us to redouble our efforts to amplify marginalized voices, foster open dialogue, and challenge policies and ideologies that seek to suppress the rich diversity and complexity of human experiences. By engaging in scholarly inquiry and collaborative action, we can work to counteract these repressive forces and create opportunities for growth, understanding, and the pursuit of social justice for all members of our society, both within Dallas and beyond. Our theme acknowledges that these attacks are not new; we have seen them before. The roots of our solidarity empower us in the face of these challenges. We are called upon to resist, knowing it will require resilience on our part to keep up the struggle. Yet these routes have been charted before, and now new routes must be created to rise to the challenge of the moment. 

We warmly welcome submissions for papers, panels, and roundtables that explore various aspects of our conference theme, “Roots/Routes of Resistance and Resilience,” from the perspectives of multiethnic literatures, broadly conceived. Proposed topics may include, but are not limited to: 

• The value of route making, wayfinding, and pathbreaking as forms of empowerment 
• The power of storytelling in fostering resistance and resilience 
• The role of literature and the arts in challenging and reimagining societal norms 

• Immigration, multiculturalism, and the evolving face of American identity 
• The history and legacy of civil rights activism in Dallas and the wider region 
• The impact of changing demographics and the growing diversity of the “city” 
• The significance of Texas, the South, and the Southwest in the broader context of US history and identity 
• The role of the oil and energy industries in shaping regional and global politics 

• Environmental justice and the intersection of race, class, and climate change 
• The importance of land, territory, and water rights 
• Grassroots movements and community-based approaches to social change 
• The resilience of Indigenous cultures and the ongoing struggle for Indigenous rights 

Submission Guidelines: 

• Abstracts should be no more than 250 words and must include a title, author name(s), institutional affiliation(s), and email address. 
• Panel proposals should include a 250-word abstract for each paper (3-4), along with a 150-word overview of the panel theme and a list of participants with their institutional affiliations and contact information. 
• Please submit abstracts and panel proposals in Word or PDF format via email to ctgonzalez@smu.edu by October 11, 2023. 
• Notifications of acceptance will be sent out by January 29, 2024. 

The Katharine Rodier Graduate Student Travel Award; The MELUS Graduate Student Travel Award; and the MELUS President’s Contingent Faculty Award 

• Anyone who wishes to be considered for a graduate student award or contingent faculty award must copy Kiedra Taylor on their submission: kiedra.taylor@uconn.edu.  

Concurrent Virtual Participation 

In addition to our traditional in-person conference activities, we are excited to offer a parallel online track of panels for those who may be unable to travel to Dallas. Each panel will be exclusively either on-site or online, with no hybrid options available. 

When submitting your proposal, please specify if you would like to be considered for the limited number of virtual panels. If no preference is indicated, your submission will be evaluated for on-site panels in Dallas only. Please note that once you have been accepted for a specific format, you will not be able to change to another format after the panels have been organized. 

We eagerly anticipate your contributions and look forward to fostering a dynamic and thought-provoking dialogue among scholars, researchers, and practitioners from a wide array of disciplines, united in our exploration of the longstanding roots and diverse routes of resistance and resilience that have shaped and continue to influence our world through the lens of multiethnic literatures. 

José A. de la Garza Valenzuela’s Fall 2021 MELUS essay, “‘Necessarily Hidden Truth(s)’: Documenting Queer Migrant Experience in Rigoberto González’s Crossing Vines,” has been awarded the 2022 Crompton-Noll Essay Prize. 

The Queer/Trans (Q/T) Caucus of the American Studies Association and Gay and Lesbian/Queer (GL/Q) Caucus of the Modern Language Association award the annual Crompton-Noll essay prize. The Crompton-Noll Award for best essay in lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or queer studies/theory in the modern languages/literatures as well as cultural studies (all broadly construed) pays tribute to Louis Crompton, who passed away in 2009, and Dolores Noll (Kent State University), two early scholar/activists who helped found the Gay and Lesbian Caucus. The award recognizes the important work of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or queer studies/theory in the modern languages and the history that has helped make this current work possible.

The MELUS journal is seeking a new book review editor to replace the current book editor, whose 3-year term ends on June 30, 2023. This is an unpaid professional service position, but the successful applicant is encouraged to seek support from their institution. The responsibilities of the book review editor include commissioning, selecting, and editing book reviews for inclusion in the journal (about 20/year). The reviewer is expected to have a good grasp of the field, demonstrated through publications and/or other professional contributions. The MELUS journal book review editor should be a member of MELUS and will be expected to attend editorial meetings at the annual national MELUS conference.

Applications are invited from suitable candidates with expertise in the field of multiethnic literature. Additional experience in academic publishing is a plus.

The main duties of the book review editor include:

–commissioning reviews in a timely fashion and submitting 5 polished reviews to the MELUS journal editor and managing editor 4 times/year;

–assigning reviews covering the breadth and depth of the field of multiethnic literatures of the United States;

–editing and copyediting submitted reviews;

–maintaining courteous correspondence with reviewers and potential reviewers, and maintaining and building a diverse and stable pool of reviewers;

–working with the reviewers to ensure they submit a polished final draft;

–occasional mentoring of first-time reviewers.

Applicants can review the journal website here: https://academic.oup.com/melus. Applicants should submit a CV and a cover letter addressing the qualifications and duties above. Applications should be submitted to Tracy Floreani (tafloreani@okcu.edu) by March 15, 2023. Finalists will be contacted for interviews.

https://www.melus2023.org

Conference Theme: Crossings and Crossroads

Conference Director: Hilene Flanzbaum, Butler University

In the early twentieth century, Indianapolis acquired the nickname, the crossroads of America: it is the city where the busiest highways in the United States merge and then diverge east and west, north and south.  Congruently, the city’s earliest growth and development was also a result of transportation: in the nineteenth century, trains that crossed the country refueled and replenished in a city that came to offer sustenance and entertainment to millions of travelers. The city’s early prominence in the automobile industry, represented by an internationally famous racing event, further established its link to the ideology of transport and movement.

Its longstanding reputation, as well, for being “Indiana-no-place,” an iconic white, middle-class, and homogenous polis– a reputation reinforced by recent television programming like The Middle and Parks and Recreation–belies its truer historical position, which is far more complex and at times contradictory. Indiana’s voting record can resemble its neighbors to the South, and the state became infamous in the 1920s for housing the largest chapter of Ku Klux Klan in the nation. Simultaneously, until the Great Migration, it had the largest African-American population of any Northern city, and a significant black middle-class sector best exemplified by the success and legacy of cosmetics mogul Madame CJ Walker who gave her name to the thriving jazz club that nurtured Wes Montgomery and Freddie Hubbard. To this day, it is, in fact, the most integrated city in the Northern states with 25% of all residents living next to a neighbor of a different race, and is currently experiencing one of the most diverse influxes of domestic and overseas immigration in the country.

How can we define Indianapolis? Is it progressive or conservative? Is it Northern or Southern?  How does it challenge our perceptions of homogeneity and diversity?  The human desire to make distinctions and to establish boundaries is challenged by the complicated geographical and political position of Indianapolis. As we think of Indianapolis as a city of geo-political crossings, we can also explore the more metaphorical crossings of race, ethnicity and culture that the 21^st century requires. In 2010, 15% of all marriages were bi-racial, a figure that is twice the percentage of ten years earlier; simultaneously, the country witnesses a resurgence of white ethnonationalism.  The questions of civic identity raised by the fluid and contradictory identity of Indianapolis, in other words, are questions that reflect the fractiousness of national politics as well, and provide a backdrop against which any discussion of multiethnic US literature possesses greater clarity and urgency.

In naming this conference “Crossings and Crossroads,” then, we draw attention to two overlapping spaces of inquiry and invite papers that discuss:

• fluid, hybrid, fragmented, or contradictory identities
• mixed race and interracial interactions
• mobility and migration
• immigration and border crossing
• intersectionality as well as intersections of identity
• the geographical significance of crossroads, etc.
• the persistence of jazz and African-American music as a crossover vehicle

Send proposals of 250 words to Melus@butler.edu or  MELUS/ English Department, Butler University, 4600 Sunset Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46208 by October 12, 2023.

Katherine Fusco and Lynda C. Olman’s MELUS article, “Techniques of Justice: W. E. B. Du Bois’s Data Portraits and the Problem of Visualizing the Race,” has been awarded this year’s 1921 Prize in American literature. Here’s a link to the article: https://academic.oup.com/melus/advance-article/doi/10.1093/melus/mlab031/6408585
The 1921 Prize in American Literature is awarded by the American Literature Society to the best article of the year in any field of American literature, published in a select group of scholarly journals, including MELUS. Here’s more about the prize: https://americanliteraturesociety.wordpress.com/1921-prize-in-american-literature/. At the link, you can find the list of journals from which submissions are invited, and you’ll see that it’s a rather select list. So this is good news for the journal and society, and also a well-deserved recognition of Fusco and Olman’s excellent scholarship!