CFP: Special Issue of Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies 6/12/16: Terrorism and Hate in Orlando, America - Poetic & Performative Responses

CFP: Special Issue of Cultural Studies/Critical Methodologies

6/12/16: Terrorism and Hate in Orlando, America - Poetic & Performative
Responses

Bryant Keith Alexander & Mary Weems, Guest Editors

The early Sunday morning (6/12/16) massacre at a gay nightclub in
Orlando, Florida has been noted as the deadliest mass shooting in the
United States and the nation's worst terror attack since 9/11. The
domestic terror and hate attack killed 50 with another 53 seriously
injured as of this writing. Fueled by the shooter's radicalized faith,
political animus, and a seeming hatred for members of the LGBTQ+
community, the nation is left mourning lives shattered once more by gun
violence-by violence against our fellow brothers and sisters.

In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, politicians and pundits alike
recycled well-worn tropes about Muslims, immigrants, guns, and national
security. Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee for
President, further fueled political hostility toward Muslims by
declaring the shooter an immigrant born in Afghanistan (he wasn't; he
was born in New York City) and once again invoked his earlier calls to
ban Muslims all from entering the United States. Former Speaker of the
House, New Gingrich, proposed the creation of a new House Un-American
Activities Committee-a sad reminder of our nation's dark past. And,
perversely, gun sales saw an almost immediate spike; especially those of
AR-15 assault rifles and related weapons, which have only one use-as
military-grade killing machines.

Yet it would be a disservice to the memory of the deceased to focus
solely on the opportunism and hate that engulfed the public sphere, for
there was a counter-narrative at play: hundreds upon hundreds lined up
to donate blood at Orlando area hospitals and blood banks; messages of
solidarity with the LGBTQ+ and Latina/o immigrant populations were
communicated from across the country, from across the globe; a grieving
country tired of yet another senseless shooting.

How do we respond to such a brutal tragedy?

How do we make sense of the senseless?

How do we grieve the loss of so many?

How do we protest the changing tides of our historical present?

The co-editors of this Special Issue of Cultural Studies/Critical
Methodologies believe strongly in poetry and performative writing as
powerful methods/modes of articulating the human spirit and as acts of
protest. The particularity of this co-editing team is also evidence of
the need to build strong alliances between gay/straight, homo/hetero,
and otherwise politically queer allies against the forces of terrorism
and hate. We hope to receive a range of poetic and performative texts
from LGBTQ+ and hetero people that place a finger on the "pulse" of
public sentiment with the fervor of compassion and ferocious activism
for social response and change.

Please send all submissions and inquiries to either Bryant Keith
Alexander (bryantkeithalexander@lmu.edu) or Mary E. Weems
(maryeweems45@gmail.com).

Deadline: August 1, 2016.