A special issue of the Jerusalem Quarterly
Write-Minded: Jerusalem in Literature
Guest Editor: Carol Khoury
Join us in exploring the literary legacy of Jerusalem and unravelling the city’s manifold narratives through the lenses of literature. Submit a proposal abstract by 15 September 2023.
Introduction
The Jerusalem Quarterly, a leading journal dedicated to the historical, cultural, and social dimensions of Jerusalem, is pleased to announce a call for contributions for a special issue titled “Write-Minded: Jerusalem in Literature.”
A city of immense historical, cultural, and religious significance, Jerusalem has inspired countless literary works, spanning various genres, periods, and perspectives. JQ invites academic contributions that illuminate the multifaceted representations of Jerusalem in literature, fostering an understanding of the city’s evolving identity as portrayed by writers worldwide.
By exploring the intersections of literature and Jerusalem, this issue aims to delve into the profound literary tapestry woven around Jerusalem, offering a platform for scholarly examination of how literary minds have shaped, challenged, and reimagined the city’s essence, reshaping its symbolism and significance through the power of the written word.
Scope
We encourage authors to delve into the themes, motifs, and symbols through which writers, poets, and intellectuals have represented the city, capturing its complexity and spiritual significance.
“Write-Minded” is seeking to:
- foster an understanding of how Palestinian and Arab writers have engaged with the city, its heritage, and its struggles, enriching our comprehension of Jerusalem’s central role in Palestinian identity; and
- highlight the complexities of Jerusalem as experienced, imagined, and documented through the lens of writers, poets, storytellers, and intellectuals, across time and borders.
We invite innovative and thought-provoking essays that analyse the significance of Jerusalem as a site of and metaphor for human experiences, both collective and individual. Submissions may also explore literary figures associated with the city.
The scope of this special issue is open in terms of historic era, genre, and language of the literary works being studied.
Potential Topics include (but are not limited to):
- Homeland: Examining how Palestinian literature portrays Jerusalem as a symbolic homeland, capturing the city’s emotional and cultural significance for Palestinians.
- Resilience and Resistance: Examining how literature reflects the resilience and resistance of Palestinians in the face of historical and ongoing challenges to Jerusalem’s integrity.
- Memoryscapes and Nostalgia: Reflecting on the city’s influence on personal and collective consciousness, by examining literary representations that preserve and reclaim the collective memory and cultural heritage and how literature reflects the transformation of Jerusalem’s physical and symbolic landscape over the years.
- Personal Journeys: Investigating individual experiences and emotions related to Jerusalem, as depicted in autobiographical or fictional accounts.
- Diaspora: Investigating how writers in the diaspora have connected with and depicted Jerusalem in their works, exploring themes of longing, belonging, and displacement.
- Poetry, Songs, and Chants: Unravelling the poetic expressions that encapsulate the essence of Jerusalem in Palestinian poetry, songs, and chants, reflecting on the city’s beauty, pain, and hope.
- Myth and Legend: Unravelling the mythical and legendary dimensions of Jerusalem’s representation in literature, examining how stories have transcended time and space.
- Sacredness: Examining the portrayal of Jerusalem’s religious and spiritual significance in literary texts from various traditions.
- Fictional and Historical Characters of Jerusalem: Analysing iconic literary characters related to Jerusalem and their impact on shaping the city’s image, and the role the city played in shaping their works.
- Jerusalem and National Identity: Understanding how literature contributes to shaping Palestinian national identity through Jerusalem’s historical and political context.
- Jerusalem as a Character: Analysing the portrayal of Jerusalem as a character in literature, observing its impact on plot development and thematic exploration.
Submission Guidelines
Authors are invited to submit original articles, essays, or pieces for JQ’s permanent sections that align with the theme of the special issue.
JQ is particularly interested in submissions that address Jerusalem in non-Anglophone literature.
The editors encourage collaborative proposals.
The digital format of JQ has the advantage of allowing published articles to include audio and video sources, as well.
Research articles will undergo a double-blind peer-review process, ensuring academic rigor and originality.
Authors are requested to adhere to JQ’s Submission Guidelines, available at: www.palestine-studies.org/en/journals/jq/how-to-submit
Process and Deadlines
Please send a proposal abstract of 300–500 words to the managing editor: [email protected]; and to the guest editor: [email protected]. The abstract should give a clear sense of the scope and argument of the proposed manuscript, and its connection to the issue’s themes.
Abstract submission deadline: 15 September 2023
Accepted proposals will be asked to submit a full manuscript draft by: 12 November 2023
The Jerusalem Quarterly plans to publish the special issue in 2024.
For inquiries or further information, please contact the guest editor of the special issue, Carol Khoury, at [email protected].
About the Jerusalem Quarterly
The Jerusalem Quarterly (JQ) is the leading journal on the past, present, and future of Jerusalem. It documents the current status of the city and its predicaments. It is also dedicated to new and rigorous lines of inquiry by emerging scholars on Palestinian society and culture. Published since 1998 by the Institute for Palestine Studies through its affiliate, the Institute of Jerusalem Studies, the Jerusalem Quarterly is available online in its entirety at www.palestine-studies.org/en/journals/jq/about.
