Call for Papers
Postcolonial Ecocriticism and Indigenous Environmental Justice: Comparative Studies in Indigenous
Literatures and Creative Arts from Northern Europe and North America
The Seventh Workshop of the Ecocritical Network for Scandinavian Studies (ENSCAN) is an online,
transatlantic workshop and will take place from April 3 to 5, 2025. It is convened by Juliane Egerer
(University of Augsburg, Germany), Hanna Mattila (Sámi allaskuvla/Sámi University of Applied Sciences,
Kautokeino, Norway), and Tim Frandy (University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada).
Theoretical framework
Postcolonial Ecocriticism and Indigenous Environmental Justice (IEJ) are two closely related fields: The first
explores complex intersections of ecological problems and social power structures connected to ethnicity,
Indigeneity, gender, national borders, and land entitlement, also focusing on, among others, hegemonic
centrisms, ecological imperialism, speciesism, and environmental racism. The latter transcends Eurowestern
definitions of Environmental Justice by insisting that Indigenous traditional knowledges, worldviews,
epistemologies, ontologies, axiologies, and the agency of non-human beings, such as plants, animals,
elements, minerals, spirit beings, and the land, are relevant for creating a future that includes living well
with Earth.
Goals
Indigenous literatures and creative arts maintain numerous complex functions for Indigenous artists, as well
as both outsider and insider audiences: raising awareness of ecological, social, and political issues;
spawning the decolonizing changes of artivism in society; elevating certain cultural aesthetics and
discourses; recontextualizing aspects of traditional culture to achieve ecological, social, and political goals;
creating art products through which human and non-human community is formed and sustained; and so
much more.
The workshop will focus on Indigenous literatures, creative arts, and expressive culture from Northern
Europe (Sápmi) and North America (Turtle Island), especially the Indigenous peoples of the North. The
emphasis is placed on Postcolonial Ecocriticism and Indigenous Environmental Justice, and on sociocultural,
environmental, and political processes as modes of analyzing, interpreting, and reading. The workshop
wishes to highlight the role of Indigenous literatures, creative arts, and expressive culture in processes of
decolonization, and in nurturing balanced, respectful, reciprocal, and inclusive relationships between
humans, various kinds of non-human beings, the land, and the environment.
In the workshop, we will explore the following questions, among others:
- How and to what ends do Indigenous creative arts navigate environmental problems and ongoing
colonial power structures?
- How do they deal with relationships between humans, various kinds of non-human beings, and the
environment?
- What strategies do they use to represent, imagine, express, and communicate insights into these
complex issues and what effects do they achieve? How do they contribute to decolonization?
- How do audiences, writers, and artists relate to each other?
- What are the differences and similarities between various Indigenous literatures and creative arts
regarding the aforementioned questions?2
Call for proposals
The workshop invites presentations that combine approaches of Postcolonial Ecocriticism and Indigenous
Environmental Justice within the fields of Indigenous and Postcolonial Literary and Cultural Studies with a
focus on the European and/or American North. Researchers from all career stages are encouraged to submit
a paper proposal of up to 300 words and a brief bio of 100 words for a 20-minute paper to
enscan.iej.project@gmail.com by November 30, 2024. The language of the workshop will be English.
Scholars presenting papers at the workshop will have the opportunity to revise their papers into chapters
for a peer-reviewed edited volume.
Workshop organizers
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact the workshop organizers Juliane Egerer
(juliane.egerer@uni-a.de), Hanna Kristiina Mattila (hannam@samas.no), and Tim Frandy
(tim.frandy@ubc.ca). Further information can also be found on the ENSCAN website at www.enscan.net.