ASLE/ASEAN 2023 : 5th ASLE-ASEAN Ecocritical Conference: Posthuman Southeast Asia

5th ASLE-ASEAN Ecocritical Conference
23-25 November 2023
Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand

Organized by the School of Liberal Arts at Mae Fah Luang University and the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment in ASEAN (ASLE/ASEAN).

CALL FOR PAPERS
POSTHUMAN SOUTHEAST ASIA

As human actions continue to undermine the sustainability of Earth’s ecosystems and the stability of the planet as a whole, posthumanism seeks to overcome the legacies of humanism by exploring from a non-anthropocentric perspective the ongoing entanglements of humans and nonhumans. A variety of approaches to the human, the nonhuman, the inhuman, and the posthuman have been at the center of recent work in ecocriticism and across the environmental humanities. Many scholars view posthumanism as a paradigmatic change that is not only reconfiguring academic knowledge about naturecultures, but also giving rise to new and unexpected ways of being-together in a more-than-human world.

Ecocritics and other scholars interested in Southeast Asia are also actively engaged in posthumanist inquiries. After all, this is a region where humans and nonhumans have always been deeply entangled, from the indigeneous and ancient traditions of animism to the variegated and blooming creativity of contemporary literature, art, music, drama, film, and other media.

In this international conference, we want to explore and discuss all these naturalcultural entanglements, the various ways in which we can speak of a posthuman Southeast Asia. But we also hope to provide a forum where scholars, researchers, students, writers, artists, and activists based or working on Southeast Asia may contribute to the global conversation on the posthumanities.

We invite you to submit proposals for paper presentations (lasting no more than 20 minutes) on relevant topics, including (but not limited to):

- Posthumanist theory and criticism
- Anthropocene, Chthulucene, Capitalocene, etc.
- Critical animal and plant studies
- Multispecies environments and ethnologies
- Nonhuman and hybrid agencies
- Posthuman ecopoetics
- Biosemiotics and interspecies communication
- Environmental philosophy and ethics beyond the human
- Environmental justice across species and other boundaries
- Postcolonial ecocriticism
- Ecofeminism and queer posthumanisms
- Monsters, cyborgs, and other hybrids
- Eco/bioart, environmental film and drama, and other ecomedia
- Posthuman and postnatural geographies
- Indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge
- Non-anthropocentric and unnatural writing
- Posthuman pedagogies
- New materialisms and material ecocriticism
- Toxic embodiment and environmental health
- Disability and posthumanism
- Dystopia, utopia, and speculative futures
- Transhumanisms and human/machine interaction

The conference is hosted by the School of Liberal Arts, Mae Fah Luang University, and will be held onsite at the university’s main campus in the province of Chiang Rai, north of Thailand. However, this format might have to be altered depending on the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. Any changes will be duly announced on the conference’s webpage (https://asleasean.mfu.ac.th) and through the ASLE/ASEAN website (https://aseanasle.wordpress.com). The official language of the conference is English, but we will accept oral presentations in any ASEAN language as long as you provide us with a written translation of your paper into English ahead of the conference.

If you are interested in presenting a paper at the conference, please submit your abstract (max. 250 words) and a short bio note (max. 100 words) using the following link only (do not send it by email):

https://app.oxfordabstracts.com/stages/3927/submitter

Important information:

- Submit your abstract proposal before 31 August 2023.
- We will notify if your proposal is accepted/rejected within 8 weeks of submission.
- If accepted, register to attend the conference between 15 January and 15 October 2023 (you will be informed how to register after your abstract has been accepted).
- Registration fees paid for the conference will also provide a 1-year membership of ASLE/ASEAN.
- The conference programme will be announced on 1 November 2023.
- Papers presented at the conference will be considered for publication in a special issue of the Journal of Southeast Asian Ecocriticism (https://fass.nus.edu.sg/elts/journal-of-southeast-asian-ecocriticism).
- Conference dates: Thursday 23, Friday 24, and Saturday 25 November 2023.
- Conference location: Mae Fah Luang University, Chiang Rai, Thailand.
- For more details, please follow the updates published on the conference website: https://asleasean.mfu.ac.th
- If you have any queries, you can contact Dr Ignasi Ribó, School of Liberal Arts, Mae Fah Luang University, via email: [email protected]

We look forward to welcoming you in Chiang Rai!