Call for trans studies papers on tranimality

[frameacloud]

Read about it at the Tips For Trans Folks blog: Call for papers for transgender studies on theme of tranimality.

Comments

[zeeth_kyrah]

Interesting. Potentially open-minded, yet seemingly blindered. I guess that's academia for ya.

[frameacloud]

Blindered how?

[zeeth_kyrah]

The continuous adding of "tran" to everything in this document bothers me somewhat (but maybe that's a good thing), but in particular the word "tranimality" itself triggers a visceral disgust for the abuse of language happening here. There are other ways to describe an experience of cross-species nature and existence -- but this group of putative academics seems to have never met those, so instead it went looking for Newspeak replacements to make up the difference.

This may be identity studies, but that doesn't have to mean other genres of study and knowledge should be ignored or manipulated against themselves! Psychology, biology, language, and other such realms are not tools of identity, but tools for it, and they should be used as such. Privatising language is a way of closing off others from one's own personal space, but the more closed an in-group, the less the out-group will sympathise with them and their goals -- and the fewer actual participants will be able to understand what's going on inside, even if they are supposed to be part of the membership.

In other words, constructed language is not necessarily useful in this context, but instead appears abstruse and foreign. Maybe that's appropriate for the highly speciated realm of academic studies, but it's not what I would consider a proper use of language.

[rax.livejournal.com]

They're also taking abstracts earlier if anyone's interested. Here's an excerpt from an email they sent to a trans studies list:

"Submission guidelines:

Due *February 1, 2014* to tranimacies@gmail.com as word documents (.doc or .docx).

- Extended abstract of 500 words. Include a work plan that explains your work to-date on the topic and how your proposed article will address the concept of tranimacies.

- 1-page CV

*Notifications will follow March 1, 2014. Full submissions due July 1, 2014 for peer-review process. Publication date envisaged in Spring 2015. "

Submitting an abstract can be a good way to get commentary on a project you're working on. I'm planning to earn a rejection letter from these folks. :P

[frameacloud]

Thank you, this is useful.

[citrakayah.livejournal.com]

I looked at this, and I'm rather confused as to how we'd examine what they're asking for. There simply isn't enough time to do the research (by putting out a survey and having a bunch of people respond to it), most people who would have the necessary knowledge to do it properly are in school, and of those of us who are but have the time, all we'd be able to do is post some raw data.