Concept Note:

Agradecidas señas: A Journal of Literature, Culture  & Critical Essays is a bilingual (Spanish/English), peer-reviewed, academic journal based at  the University of Texas—Permian Basin. Following the achievement of this issue, we welcome submissions for our second annual issue, to be published in summer 2021. We invite contributions that draw on (but are not limited to) ecocriticism, cultural studies, philosophy and literature, political theory, and cinema.  We are particularly interested in submissions that are interdisciplinary in nature, and which bring language research into dialogue with historical, philosophical, economic, and political questions.

Agradecidas señas also welcomes translations from Spanish languages into English (or vice versa), particularly texts that have not been previously published. And this journal will also open a section for graduate students to publish their essays — upon recommendation by their professors.

Contributions should be accompanied by a 200-word abstract and a brief biography.

Submissions should be written in Spanish and English, be between 5,000 and 8,000 words in length, and follow MLA style or other citation style books, such as APA and Chicago.  To view our full author guidelines and editorial policy, please visit our website: agradecidassenas.com

CALL FOR PAPERS Deadline for submissions: Tuesday, July 20th, 2021

Submission for Academic Papers: journal@agradecidassenas.com

Tema:

Homo Sentimentalis: de la depresión a la felicidad

La literatura y los sentimientos están inherentemente relacionados desde, al menos, las lágrimas de Aquiles en los cantos XVIII y XXIV de la Ilíada. En el primer caso, el héroe llora por haber perdido a su amigo Patroclo tras haberse éste enfrentado a Héctor. La segunda vez, Aquiles se aflige al escuchar al rey Príamo, quien le reclama el cadáver de su hijo, Héctor, muerto a manos del protagonista del poema en venganza por la pérdida de Patroclo. Las palabras de Príamo le recuerdan a Aquiles a su propio padre, y le conmueven hasta las lágrimas. ¿Sería excesivo afirmar que, desde este texto fundacional hasta hoy, el discurso literario es el portavoz de los sentimientos humanos? Si en los ejemplos mencionados las emociones representadas son, respectivamente, la amistad y el amor filial, en épocas posteriores es sobre todo la pasión amorosa la que acapara la atención del discurso literario.

Desde el siglo XII, con los trovadores y las narraciones caballerescas, el amor ha sido expresado, analizado, codificado y descodificado un sinnúmero de veces. La leyenda de Tristán e Isolda, Dante o Petrarca, por mencionar solo unos ejemplos, contemplan, disecan y desarrollan todo el espectro del amor. La literatura, por tanto, produce una especie de análisis y discusión del tema amoroso. Si, por un lado, aparece la idealización del amor-pasión, también hay críticas o versiones alternativas a éste, por ejemplo, el amor cortés con sus múltiples variaciones o el amor cristiano de Dante o San Juan de la Cruz. El eros es complementado por el agape.

En la época de la Ilustración aparece el Marqués de Sade, quien desarrolla las pasiones eróticas hasta el absurdo, o, ¿quizás hasta sus últimas consecuencias? Madame Bovary representa, como ya ha sido observado en muchas ocasiones, un Don Quijote femenino que en el enamoramiento pasional crea un autoengaño (inspirado por la literatura sentimental) paralelo al de Alonso Quijano (debido a los libros de caballerías). Por otra parte, el último libro que García Márquez llegó a publicar, Memoria de mis putas tristes, es como una oda a la pasión no consumada, es una aparición del amor cortés en el siglo XXI.

Con la presente convocatoria no tenemos la intención de centrarnos exclusivamente en el amor. Si bien éste ha sido el sentimiento abrumadoramente más tratado en la literatura, todo el espectro de las emociones humanas es representado y analizado en el discurso literario, y, en consecuencia, cualquier afecto tendrá cabida en este número monográfico de Agradecidas señas, y, además, elaborado de la forma que sea, desde el ensayo académico a la poesía o las artes performativas.

Topic:

Homo Sentimentalis: From Depression to Happiness

Literature and feelings are inherently related since, at least, Achilles’s tears in the books XVIII and XXIV of the Iliad. In the first case, the hero cries for having lost his friend Patroclus as a consequence of the latter’s confrontation with Hector. The second time, Achilles grieves when he hears king Priam, who claims the body of his son, Hector, dead at the hands of the protagonist in revenge for the loss of Patroclus. Priam’s words remind Achilles of his own father, and move him to tears. Would it be excessive to state that, from this foundational text until today, the literary discourse is the spokesman of human feelings? If in the mentioned examples the emotions represented are, respectively, friendship and filial love, in later times it is above all the love passion that monopolizes the attention of literary discourse.

Since the 12th century, with the troubadours and the chivalric narratives, love has been expressed, analyzed, codified and decoded countless times. The legend of Tristan and Isolde, Dante or Petrarch, to mention only a few examples, contemplate, dissect and develop the whole spectrum of love. Literature, therefore, produces a kind of analysis and discussion of the subject of love. If, on the one hand, an idealization of passionate love appears, there are also critiques or alternative versions of this feeling, for example, Courtly love with its multiple variations, or Dante’s or St. John of the Cross’s Christian love. Eros is complemented by agape.

In the age of the Enlightenment Marquis de Sade appears, who develops the erotic passions to the absurd, or, perhaps to their ultimate consequences? Madame Bovary represents, as has been observed on many occasions, a female Don Quixote who in her passionate infatuation creates a self-delusion (inspired by sentimental literature) parallel to that of Alonso Quijano (due to the books of chivalry). On the other hand, the last book that García Márquez came to publish, Memories of My Melancholy Whores, is like an ode to unconsummated passion, it is an appearance of courteous love in the 21st century.

With this call we do not intend to focus exclusively on love. While this has been the feeling most overwhelmingly addressed in literature, the entire spectrum of human emotions is represented and analyzed in literary discourse, and consequently, any feeling will have a place in this monographic issue of Agradecidas señas, and, moreover, elaborated in any way, from the academic essay to poetry or the performing arts.