Call for Papers for Special Issue
Race, Religion and Royalty in Southeast Asia: Reproduced, Resisted, Renegotiated?
Guest Editors: Dr. Kumaran Rajandran (USM) & Dr. Siti Nurnadilla Mohamad Jamil (IIUM)
Race, religion and royalty (3R) are relatively entrenched in Southeast Asia, often constituting the basis of legitimacy to governance. 3R legitimizes the dominance of particular groups in Southeast Asian countries and normalizes ethno-religious identities. Despite Western-based political systems, the region continues to present the preference for selected groups in various domains. It has not helped cohesion for its socio-demographic cleavages, namely ethnic, linguistic, regional or religious.
While the study of 3R has gained adequate focus in various disciplines, discourse is rarely evoked to understand the relations among race, religion and royalty in the everyday lives of the region’s inhabitants. Discourse can articulate arguments for and against the status quo, becoming orthodox or heterodox. While the study of discourse often explores how/why 3R is reproduced, its nature and contours have also been resisted or renegotiated. It reveals the multifaceted articulation of ‘sensitive’ topics, questioning the familiar imagined community.
The Special Issue brings together scholars studying Southeast Asia, whose research explore the manifestation of 3R in texts. We understand texts to be in audio, print or digital formats, and may use any Southeast Asian language alone or in conjunction with other modes. These texts may be official or non-official, outstanding or banal, but discursively contribute to convey notions of 3R.
We invite abstracts (300-350 words) for articles studying the articulation of 3R in one or more Southeast Asian country. The articles (6500-7000 words) should employ linguistic or literary approaches, and should endeavor to decolonize these approaches. The use of these approaches on an archive of texts reveals how and why topics on 3R are resisted or renegotiated despite endeavors to reproduce dominant interpretations. The articles should also engage in constructive criticism to build democratic, egalitarian and equitable societies in this region.
A journal indexed in SCOPUS, ESCI and MyCite has shown positive interest to publish the Special Issue. Accepted articles are subject to an article processing charge. For further enquiries and abstract submission, contact Kumaran Rajandran at rkumaran@usm.my and Siti Nurnadilla Mohamad Jamil at nadillajamil@iium.edu.my.
Key dates:
Abstract submission 14 July 2023, 5pm (Malaysia time GMT +8)
Abstract review decision 31 July 2023
Article submission 31 January 2024
Article review decision 30 April 2024
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