“Entangled Futures: Interstitial Fantasies from the Periphery”
deadline for submissions:
January 31, 2026
full name / name of organization:
Canadian Comparative Literature Association
contact email:
jillplanche@gmail.com
source: https://call-for-papers.sas.upenn.edu/cfp/2025/12/18/%E2%80%9Centangled-futures-interstitial-fantasies-from-the-periphery%E2%80%9D
CCLA – Fantastical Constellation Working Group Call for Proposals
CCLA Annual Conference / Colloque annuel de l’ACLC
The Fantastical Constellation Working Group invites proposals for a panel or round table topic, “Entangled Futures: Interstitial Fantasies from the Periphery,” as part of the Canadian Comparative Literature Association Annual Conference, 8-10 June 2026, hosted by the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at McGill University in Montréal.
The Fantastical Constellation Working Group proposes an all-encompassing engagement with current issues in postmagical realism studies to explore the process of worlding; examine howspeculative modes blend scientific and magical elements to create new forms of expression that move beyond traditional magical realism in our complex post-truth era of developing new technologies and unsettlement of global orders.
“Entangled Futures: Interstitial Fantasies from the Periphery” draws on physicist and feminist theorist Karen Barad’s concept of agential realism, rooted in quantum physics. Barad proposes that entities do not exist as separate, independent beings that later interact, but are mutually constituted through “intra-actions” between human and non-human forces—an approach that reframes how scientific and political practices are intertwined. Building on this sense of dynamic interconnectedness, the panel explores how speculative and fantastical narratives emerging from the peripheries—whether geopolitical, cultural, or aesthetic—reconfigure relations among science, technology, and imagination. Here, the “periphery” extends beyond geography to include cultural and political margins, as well as hybrid artistic formats such as performance, film, and digital art, to name a few, where experimental practices unsettle conventional boundaries between genres and media. “Entangled futures,” then, imagines divergent pathways shaped by dystopian, utopian, and speculative tropes, while the term “interstitial” foregrounds the generative spaces between borders, bodies, and identities where new forms of posthuman and postmagical expression emerge.
Such theorization might look to Mads Rosendahl Thomsen’s contention that posthumanism is an important focus for all forms of artistic expression, going beyond non-human and machinic representations, and Premesh Lalu’s argument for magical realism’s capacity to “eke out a more generous form of life through an affirmation of humanity,” combining “science with the specifically human attributes of memory, judgment, and imagination to withstand the speed of machines.”
We propose, then, a theme with a strong theoretical anchor while remaining broad enough to attract diverse proposals from scholars working across different disciplines and literary traditions. We invite proposals that explore how fantastical literature from the margins—be it geographical, cultural, or aesthetic—challenges traditional boundaries.
Proposals might engage such topics as:
Bodies, Technologies, and PosthumanismPosthumanism and the body: how do texts from marginalized perspectives reimagine the human body and its relationship with technology, particularly as the blurring of boundaries between the biological and the technological raises profound ontological and ethical questions concerning personhood and agency.Cultural and political: subcultures and political margins. (It is known that Silicon Valley tech-moguls read science-fiction, as well as view films like The Matrix, and use them in marketing their technological ideas.) Are there science fiction or broadly fantastical narratives, ideas, or imaginaries (dystopias, utopias, revolutionary and evolutionary ideas) that influence, or are used in the (political) margins?
Translation and Cross-Linguistic EstrangementTranslation through the margins: How does translation, as a practice and concept, figure in rearticulating the fantastic? How is the estrangement function of science fiction and fantasy in overlooked languages kept alive or smoothed out through translation into English?
Decolonial and Queer FuturesPostmagical realism and peripheral decolonized futures: How do contemporary works blend scientific and magical elements to create new forms of expression that move beyond traditional magical realism?Queer and decolonized futures: Histories have been rewritten as herstories, decolonial histories, and queer histories. Can categories of identity constructed within power relations—like temporality and space—subvert linear projects of progress imposed on them by the world and higher powers and, through queer practices, become a space of constant negotiation of difference and resistance; become an antagonist in relation to their own microcosm, critical and judgemental (Mendlesohn).The other: Fantasy of the other; other forms of oppression.
Temporalities and RetrofuturismRetrofuturism: In the field of international politics and strategy, ‘scenario methodology’ has gained traction in recent years — creating hypothetical and alternative models of the future based on an analysis of the current geopolitical situation. Given the tendency to focus on the world’s most liminal geographical areas, how do post-magical realism and science fiction expand our horizons by giving voice to the most marginal geographical realities?Temporality: understandings of time in speculative fiction.
War, Ruins, and ReconstructionWar as subject and the future: War is a common theme or background in science fiction narratives. Most current digital technologies depend, or are generated in, the military context of WWII or Cold War. Benjamin points to Italian Futurism’s aestheticization of war as foundational to the fascist political aesthetic. Is war in science fiction’s visions of the future presented as an aesthetic—such as ruins, postapocalyptic or heroic and action-packed aesthetic—as a way of pushing certain ideologies/agendas, or is war an unavoidable part of interstitial fantasies inevitably entangled with technological/scientific progressive fantasies?
Eco-critical Imaginaries
Eco-criticism: the climate crisis in speculative fiction.
Theatrical and Performative Fantasies
Theatricality and performance: How do ideas of entanglement and alterity manifest in fantastical theatre or performance art, beyond “spectacle and the fantastic . . . to connect to the audience’s imagination, their beliefs, and their hopes in the fantastic for a better world or at least a way to make it better” (Magoffin).
Instructions for proposals:
All sessions will be in hybrid format. For participation in (a) Paper Panel (papers of 20 minutes); or (b) Roundtable (5-minute introductions to be followed by discussion).
Please submit a proposal of no more than 250 words.
Include a brief bio (max 100 words) with contact information.
Also, please indicate:
- whether you will present in person or online.
- any technical requirements for your presentation.
- the forum in which you wish to participate
Deadline for submissions: January 31, 2026.
Please submit your proposal to:
Jill Planche – Email: jillplanche@gmail.com
Agata Mergler – Email: agatamer@yorku.ca
Elisa Leonzio – Email: elisa.leonzio@gmail.com
References
Barad, Karen. Meeting the Universe Halfway. Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 2007.
Collins, John. “Interweaving with Premesh Lalu: The Long Global Shadow of Apartheid. Interview with Premesh Lalu. Voices, 28 Feb 2025. https://www.weavenews.org/stories/2025/2/28/interweaving-with-premesh-lalu-the-long-global-shadow-of-apartheid
Magoffin, Ashley. “Magical Realism: From Concept to Stage. Part 2.” Struggling Artist. Blog. 29 Jan 2021. https://thestrugglingartist1996.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/magical-realism-concept-to-stage-part-2/
Mendlesohn, Farah. Rhetorics of Fantasy, Wesleyan University Press, Middletown 2008.
Thomsen, Mads Rosendahl. “TheNonhuman, the Posthuman, and the Universal,” Part IX – The Worldly and the Planetary, The Cambridge History of World Literature, edited by Debjani Ganguly. 17 August 2021.
Last updated December 18, 2025
CCLA – Fantastical Constellation Working Group Call for Proposals
CCLA Annual Conference / Colloque annuel de l’ACLC
The Fantastical Constellation Working Group invites proposals for a panel or round table topic, “Entangled Futures: Interstitial Fantasies from the Periphery,” as part of the Canadian Comparative Literature Association Annual Conference, 8-10 June 2026, hosted by the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at McGill University in Montréal.
The Fantastical Constellation Working Group proposes an all-encompassing engagement with current issues in postmagical realism studies to explore the process of worlding; examine howspeculative modes blend scientific and magical elements to create new forms of expression that move beyond traditional magical realism in our complex post-truth era of developing new technologies and unsettlement of global orders.
“Entangled Futures: Interstitial Fantasies from the Periphery” draws on physicist and feminist theorist Karen Barad’s concept of agential realism, rooted in quantum physics. Barad proposes that entities do not exist as separate, independent beings that later interact, but are mutually constituted through “intra-actions” between human and non-human forces—an approach that reframes how scientific and political practices are intertwined. Building on this sense of dynamic interconnectedness, the panel explores how speculative and fantastical narratives emerging from the peripheries—whether geopolitical, cultural, or aesthetic—reconfigure relations among science, technology, and imagination. Here, the “periphery” extends beyond geography to include cultural and political margins, as well as hybrid artistic formats such as performance, film, and digital art, to name a few, where experimental practices unsettle conventional boundaries between genres and media. “Entangled futures,” then, imagines divergent pathways shaped by dystopian, utopian, and speculative tropes, while the term “interstitial” foregrounds the generative spaces between borders, bodies, and identities where new forms of posthuman and postmagical expression emerge.
Such theorization might look to Mads Rosendahl Thomsen’s contention that posthumanism is an important focus for all forms of artistic expression, going beyond non-human and machinic representations, and Premesh Lalu’s argument for magical realism’s capacity to “eke out a more generous form of life through an affirmation of humanity,” combining “science with the specifically human attributes of memory, judgment, and imagination to withstand the speed of machines.”
We propose, then, a theme with a strong theoretical anchor while remaining broad enough to attract diverse proposals from scholars working across different disciplines and literary traditions. We invite proposals that explore how fantastical literature from the margins—be it geographical, cultural, or aesthetic—challenges traditional boundaries.
Proposals might engage such topics as:
Bodies, Technologies, and PosthumanismPosthumanism and the body: how do texts from marginalized perspectives reimagine the human body and its relationship with technology, particularly as the blurring of boundaries between the biological and the technological raises profound ontological and ethical questions concerning personhood and agency.Cultural and political: subcultures and political margins. (It is known that Silicon Valley tech-moguls read science-fiction, as well as view films like The Matrix, and use them in marketing their technological ideas.) Are there science fiction or broadly fantastical narratives, ideas, or imaginaries (dystopias, utopias, revolutionary and evolutionary ideas) that influence, or are used in the (political) margins?
Translation and Cross-Linguistic EstrangementTranslation through the margins: How does translation, as a practice and concept, figure in rearticulating the fantastic? How is the estrangement function of science fiction and fantasy in overlooked languages kept alive or smoothed out through translation into English?
Decolonial and Queer FuturesPostmagical realism and peripheral decolonized futures: How do contemporary works blend scientific and magical elements to create new forms of expression that move beyond traditional magical realism?Queer and decolonized futures: Histories have been rewritten as herstories, decolonial histories, and queer histories. Can categories of identity constructed within power relations—like temporality and space—subvert linear projects of progress imposed on them by the world and higher powers and, through queer practices, become a space of constant negotiation of difference and resistance; become an antagonist in relation to their own microcosm, critical and judgemental (Mendlesohn).The other: Fantasy of the other; other forms of oppression.
Temporalities and RetrofuturismRetrofuturism: In the field of international politics and strategy, ‘scenario methodology’ has gained traction in recent years — creating hypothetical and alternative models of the future based on an analysis of the current geopolitical situation. Given the tendency to focus on the world’s most liminal geographical areas, how do post-magical realism and science fiction expand our horizons by giving voice to the most marginal geographical realities?Temporality: understandings of time in speculative fiction.
War, Ruins, and ReconstructionWar as subject and the future: War is a common theme or background in science fiction narratives. Most current digital technologies depend, or are generated in, the military context of WWII or Cold War. Benjamin points to Italian Futurism’s aestheticization of war as foundational to the fascist political aesthetic. Is war in science fiction’s visions of the future presented as an aesthetic—such as ruins, postapocalyptic or heroic and action-packed aesthetic—as a way of pushing certain ideologies/agendas, or is war an unavoidable part of interstitial fantasies inevitably entangled with technological/scientific progressive fantasies?
Eco-critical Imaginaries
Eco-criticism: the climate crisis in speculative fiction.
Theatrical and Performative Fantasies
Theatricality and performance: How do ideas of entanglement and alterity manifest in fantastical theatre or performance art, beyond “spectacle and the fantastic . . . to connect to the audience’s imagination, their beliefs, and their hopes in the fantastic for a better world or at least a way to make it better” (Magoffin).
Instructions for proposals:
All sessions will be in hybrid format. For participation in (a) Paper Panel (papers of 20 minutes); or (b) Roundtable (5-minute introductions to be followed by discussion).
Please submit a proposal of no more than 250 words.
Include a brief bio (max 100 words) with contact information.
Also, please indicate:
- whether you will present in person or online.
- any technical requirements for your presentation.
- the forum in which you wish to participate
Deadline for submissions: January 31, 2026.
Please submit your proposal to:
Jill Planche – Email: jillplanche@gmail.com
Agata Mergler – Email: agatamer@yorku.ca
Elisa Leonzio – Email: elisa.leonzio@gmail.com
References
Barad, Karen. Meeting the Universe Halfway. Quantum Physics and the Entanglement of Matter and Meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 2007.
Collins, John. “Interweaving with Premesh Lalu: The Long Global Shadow of Apartheid. Interview with Premesh Lalu. Voices, 28 Feb 2025. https://www.weavenews.org/stories/2025/2/28/interweaving-with-premesh-lalu-the-long-global-shadow-of-apartheid
Magoffin, Ashley. “Magical Realism: From Concept to Stage. Part 2.” Struggling Artist. Blog. 29 Jan 2021. https://thestrugglingartist1996.wordpress.com/2021/01/29/magical-realism-concept-to-stage-part-2/
Mendlesohn, Farah. Rhetorics of Fantasy, Wesleyan University Press, Middletown 2008.
Thomsen, Mads Rosendahl. “TheNonhuman, the Posthuman, and the Universal,” Part IX – The Worldly and the Planetary, The Cambridge History of World Literature, edited by Debjani Ganguly. 17 August 2021.
Last updated December 18, 2025
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