CFP: Adeptus 18 (2021) “Closely Watched Biographies”

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CFP: Adeptus 18 (2021) “Closely Watched Biographies”

A considerable interest in Jan Novák’s controversial biography of Milan Kundera (Kundera: Český život a doba, 2020 [Kundera: A Czech Life in its Time]) testifies to the impact of this literary genre on societies which struggle with the demons of their socio- political order of recent past. Apart from stressing the role of his works in Czech culture, the “dispute over Kundera” has also touched on several aspects that are important but have not been quite prominent in public debate. The issues in question include the value

of archival records and possibilities of their use, approaching biography as a literary or historical genre, attitudes to the canon of national culture, and the extent to which the author or reader enter the private or even intimate sphere of the writer’s life. The situation we observe is not, however, unique in the context of Czech intellectual life or that of other Slavic nations. Suffice it to mention such books as Marysieńka Sobieska [Queen Marysieńka] by Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński (1938), Kapuściński non-fiction (Ryszard Kapuściński: A Life) by Artur Domosławski (2010), Josip Broz Tito: Prilozi za biografiju [Josip Broz Tito: Materials for a Biography] by Vladimir Dedijer (1953), or the publication of materials concerning Julia Kristeva’s collaboration with Bulgarian secret police (2018).

Through such works, biographical genres (i.e. not only biographies, but also novels, non-fiction works, films inspired by the stories of real characters) pose a considerable intellectual challenge to readers and researchers. They engage us in the confrontation between at least two unique personalities. The life, work or activity of the protagonist of a biography turn out to be so interesting and significant that they deserve commemoration, involving a considerable effort of studying archival materials, interviewing living witnesses, or conducting a critical analysis of available sources. The author of a biography undertakes all these challenges in order to construct a credible biographical narrative. Such confrontations are of constant interest to readers in English- speaking countries, which means that biographies have a significant position on the British or American publishing market, and thus also in reflection of researchers in these countries. In the last few years, the situation in this respect has also been changing in Poland, both in terms of the amount of published biographical literature and the attention devoted to scholarly debate on biographical genres (see Gajewska, A. 2008: Zwrot biograficzny w feministycznej krytyce literackiej, Nasiłowska, A. 2009: Biografie: zwrot biograficzny, “Teksty Drugie” 1/2019).

In the next issue of Adeptus we would like to take a closer look at the process of such confrontation, not only from the perspective of literary studies. We are interested in particular aspects of the phenomenon of biographism, hence the topics proposed below, which, however, should not limit the invention and ideas of the authors:

  • the phenomenon of new biographism;

  • inspirations leading to the choice of biography as a genre form and

    its relations with autobiographical literature;

  • the diversity of biographical genres;

  •  issues related to gathering source materials;

  •  the context of the creative process and its ideological, sociological or cultural determinants;

  •   legal aspects of writing biographical texts and their reception;

  •  biographical genres on local publishing markets;

  •  the reception of the final work and its consequences for the process of shaping the identity of particular societies.

Deadline for submissions: 30th June 2021

Planned date of publication: December 2021

Publication in partnership with:

Please submit articles via the Open Journal System platform, where you can also find detailed information and guidelines for authors: https://ispan.waw.pl/journals/index.php/adeptus/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions.

We invite articles by representatives of various research areas and methodologies. Articles for this journal should be written in either English or Polish and should not exceed 40,000 characters (including spaces). This limit includes tables, references, figure captions, footnotes, bibliography and an abstract of 150 words. Articles in excess of the maximum limit will be returned to the author(s). Please consult APA style guidelines for references, available at: https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammarguidelines/references/.

“Adeptus” is an interdisciplinary peer-reviewed journal devoted to the study of key issues related to Slavic cultures and languages in the past and present. It publishes research articles on all aspects of Slavic studies that address the description and analysis of Slavic cultures and languages. Special attention is devoted to inter-Slavic and Slavic- European linguistic and cultural relations. It also publishes other materials that contribute to an understanding of contemporary Slavic cultures and are based on the anthropological and linguistic study of the issues in focus, as well as translations of relevant texts in the field and interviews with distinguished scholars. “Adeptus” also publishes thematic special issues. The geographical scope of the journal is the Slavic region and the whole area that lies between Germany and Russia, including the Baltic region and the Balkans. As such, “Adeptus” covers the entire post-communist region, including Central and Eastern Europe, Russia and all other countries of the former Soviet Union. The principal aim of the journal is to encourage dialogue among young researchers interested in the issues in focus. Inviting contributions primarily from young academics, “Adeptus” is unique among other journals.

The journal welcomes research articles that generate new ideas and aspire to encourage readers across different regional and theoretical fields on a wide range of topics consistent with the aims of “Adeptus”. Submissions from all disciplines and perspectives are welcome. The journal is listed in Emerging Sources Citation Index (Clarivate Analytics), CEEOL, DOAJ, EBSCO, ProQuest and Crossref databases. It is included in the Polish ranking of academic journals of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education; the number of points awarded for published contributions is 40.

For additional information check our Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.com/AdeptusIS

Questions should be addressed to: gnot@ucl.cas.cz lub maciej.metrak@ispan.waw.pl