Guest Editor
Dr. Carme Manuel
(Universitat de València)
What is the language value of minority literatures? Did the growth of minority literatures at the beginning of the twentieth century contribute to make visible/readable cultures and communities that had up until that time remained invisible?
Minority communities had been expressing themselves for centuries prior to their entrance into the Western canon, the development of minority literatures in the twentieth century not only speaks to issues of representation (How should or how can communities represent themselves?) but also to issues of transculturation (How can minority communities present themselves in ways that secure their visibility in mainstream culture?).
In this sense, the title of this issue "Language Value in Minority Literatures" aims to suggest both issues. Furthermore, it aims to reflect on how both issues are related. Minority communities, like any community, deal with the shortcomings of representation when developing their own cultural traditions (Does Native American literature represent all Native Americans?). How much can a community sacrifice to translatability, to the objective of making itself visible in mainstream culture (Can Asian-American literature rid itself completely of Orientalist images?).
Language Value publishes articles, review and commentary essays in linguistics and literature concerned with interdisciplinary analysis of English language use.
Detailed proposals (500-1,000 words) for articles of c. 5-8,000 words, as well as any inquiries regarding the issue, should be sent by email to the journal address (lvalue@uji.es). See the website of the journal for further information for authors (http://www.languagevalue.uji.es/languagevalue/information/authors).
The deadline for proposals is 30 September 2011, with delivery of completed articles by 30 January 2012. Authors will receive an email message acknowledging proposal reception in the following two weeks and will be notified about the acceptance or not of the article in a maximum period of one month.
This special issue will publish book and multimedia reviews relevant to the field of Minority Literatures. Please contact the Editors if you wish to send a copy of the volume or product to be reviewed in the journal.