CALL FOR PAPERS
Demeter Press is seeking submissions for an edited collection
The Music of Motherhood
Co-editors: Martha Joy Rose, Lynda Ross, and Jennifer Hartmann
Publication Date: Fall 2016
Music is an important form of self-expression and vehicle for social engagement. Activists like Charlotte Perkins Gilman published songs calling for suffragists “to lift mankind” in the early 1900s. A century later, Patricia Hill Collins dedicated her literary voice to “people who have been silenced.” In recent history, “mom rockers” have made contributions to feminist articulations about motherhood that have pushed this conversation into mainstream society.
Music operates as a language in cultures around the world, but employment of its articulations and interpretations are varied. Whether used as a rallying cry, an anthem, a hymn, a lullaby, or a pop song, music anchors memories and relationships, disrupts complacency, and calls to the spirit. This collection aims to focus on the power of music as a force for transformation and a tool for amplifying issues that concern us all.
Suggested topics may include, but are not limited to:
How has music contributed to a dialogue about race, class, and gender as they pertain to motherhood? How do mothers engage with music specifically? What obstacles do women, who are mothers, face when making music, and what are they doing about it? What are “mom rock” and “daddy rock” and what do they contribute to social awareness? What are the psychological benefits of the materiality and praxis of music? How are notions of self-identity discovered in the creative act? How might music speak back to hegemony and liberate us from limiting ideologies? Can the acts of creating, performing, moving to, or listening to music be considered pathways for healing? How are motherhood and music articulated in the public sphere, and how are they leveraged for activism and social change?
We welcome historical, sociological, political, and psychological interpretations from musicologists, ethnomusicologists, folklorists, artists, theorists, activists, students, and educators.
Proposal Submission Guidelines
Abstracts should be 250 words.
Please also include a paper title and a brief biography (50 words) and citizenship.
Please send as an email attachment (preferably as a Word document) to
- M. Joy Rose, Lynda Ross, and Jennifer Hartmann at:
MusicMotherhood@gmail.com
(Important: The Music of Motherhood should be used the subject line of your email submission)
Deadline for Abstracts is 30 April 2015
Accepted papers of 4000-5000 words (15-20 pages) will be 31 December 2015.
and should conform to MLA citation format.
Demeter Press
140 Holland St. West, PO 13022
Bradford, ON, CANADA, L3Z 2Y5 Tel: (905) 775-9089
www.demeterpress.org / info@demeterpress.org