Body Politics in Literature
Only CFP for Edited Volume
Call for Papers (CFP) for ISBN Edited Volume
Edited Volume Title: Body Politics in Literature
About the Volume
The body in literature is never neutral; it is a site where power is exercised, identities are shaped, and social meanings are constantly negotiated. Rather than viewing the body as a purely biological entity, literary texts reveal it as something produced through cultural norms, political structures, and ideological forces. This edited volume, Body Politics in Literature, aims to investigate how writers across different periods and traditions represent the body as a space of control, conflict, and transformation.
Bringing together interdisciplinary approaches, the volume focuses on the ways in which bodies - particularly those marked by gender, caste, race, and other forms of marginalization - are depicted, disciplined, and contested in literary narratives. It also seeks to highlight how literature becomes a powerful medium through which these bodies resist imposed meanings, assert agency, and imagine new forms of embodied identity.
Objectives
To examine the representation of the body as a site of power, control, and resistance
To analyse the intersections of gender, sexuality, caste, race, and class in literary embodiment
To explore how literature negotiates issues of agency, identity, and subjectivity through the body
To foreground marginalized voices and alternative narratives of embodiment
Suggested Themes (Indicative, Not Exhaustive)
1. Theoretical Perspectives on Body Politics
Feminist, queer, and intersectional theories of the body
Body as discourse, text, and performance
Postcolonial and decolonial approaches to embodiment
2. Gendered Bodies and Patriarchal Control
Objectification, beauty standards, and bodily surveillance
Honor, purity, and regulation of female bodies
Marriage, domesticity, and bodily discipline
3. Sexuality, Desire, and Agency
Female desire and its literary representation
Queer bodies and non-normative identities
Erotic autonomy and transgressive narratives
4. Violence, Trauma, and the Body
Sexual violence and its representation in literature
War, conflict, and violated bodies
Trauma, memory, and embodied suffering
5. Caste, Race, and Marginalized Bodies
Dalit and subaltern body narratives
Racialized bodies and colonial/postcolonial contexts
Intersection of caste, class, gender, and embodiment
6. Illness, Disability, and the Medicalized Body
Representation of illness and mental health
Disability studies and literary embodiment
Medical authority vs lived bodily experience
7. Resistance and Reclaiming the Body
Feminist and subaltern resistance narratives
Body as a site of empowerment and agency
Counter-discourses and rewriting the body
8. Myth, Religion, and Reimagined Bodies
Reinterpretations of mythological and religious figures
Gendered bodies in sacred narratives
Subversion of traditional archetypes
9. Contemporary and Digital Body Politics
Body image and social media narratives
Cyber embodiment and virtual identities
Submission Guidelines
Abstract Length:
350–400 words
Keywords:
4–6 keywords
Full Paper Length:
4,500–6,500 words
Formatting Style:
MLA Style Based Format (Author, Year)
Language:
English (British or American consistency required)
Originality:
Submissions must be original and unpublished (Please submit a complete Similarity and AI report of your paper, duly generated using either Turnitin / Urkund / Drill Brit plagiarism detection software.)
Publication Charge:
Rs. 150 for Publication Charge, Apart from this, there is no charge.
Important Dates
Abstract Submission Deadline:
15 April 2026
Notification of Acceptance:
18 April 2026
Full Paper Submission:
5th June 2026
Expected Publication:
Early 2026
Submission Process
Please submit abstracts and full papers via email to:
rajini.icssrseminar.english.2025@gmail.com
Subject Line: Submission of Abstract/Full Paper – “Title”
Include the following in your submission:
· Title of the paper
· Author name(s) and affiliation
· Brief bio-note (100 words)
· Contact details, ORCID ID
About the Editor
Dr. P. Rajini
Assistant Professor of English
Government Arts and Science College
(Affiliated to Periyar University, Salem - 11)
Idappadi - 637102, Salem dt
rajini.icssrseminar.english.2025@gmail.com
rajini.icssrseminar.english.2025@gmail.com
Dr. P. Rajini - Seminar Convenor GASC Idappadi 2025