About the Journal
The Digital Literature Review is an undergraduate journal featuring peer-reviewed research by multiple contributors from various universities and academic disciplines. Each issue of the DLR will focus on a compelling theme that inspires original, thought-provoking research. In its current theme of Space Exploration, the journal will feature analysis of human interaction with the places they inhabit and how those spaces effect the lives that are built around them. This annual, student-run journal is a product of Ball State University’s immersive learning initiative and is supported by the BSU English Department.
Submissions are now open for the thirteenth issue of The Digital Literature Review, "Space Exploration: Examining How Physical and Theoretical Spaces Shape Us." This year, we are looking for writing that examines spatiality: how space (the spaces we inhabit or our ideas about space) is represented and how it influences individuals, society, and the narratives we create. Recent scholarship in literary studies (Bachelard, Bhaba, De Certeau) registers an increased awareness of the value of space as an interpretive lens. Submissions can include, but are not limited to, the topics listed below:
- How our identity is linked to space (belonging, code switching)
- Representations of space in media and literature and the impact on setting character, or genre
- Liminal, hybrid, and thresholds as critical frameworks (the backrooms in video games, the "in-between," abandoned places)
- Sacred spaces
- Eco-criticism
- Mapping and literary cartographies
- Narratives of diaspora, exile, and borderland narratives
- Segregation, gentrification, cultural spaces
- Speculative Spaces (utopias and dystopias)
Essays must be anchored in a work of literature, cinema, or other artistic media and relate to the journal's theme of spatiality. They must also be supported by scholarly research. We encourage submitters to explore the many nuances of spatiality studies within their essays.
All essays must be submitted as a Word document and include an abstract. Submissions should be between 2,500 and 5,000 words and adhere to MLA citation and formatting guidelines with double-spacing and 12 pt. Times New Roman font. Please direct any questions to dlrat@gmail.com. Deadline extended: all journal submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. Sunday, February 8th.
Are you a Ball State student looking for an immersive learning experience? E-mail dlratbsu@gmail.com to get involved!
Publishing is supported by Ball State University Libraries in Muncie, Indiana.
