Call for Papers: Animism and Non-human Narration
Modern Language Association Annual Convention in Toronto
January 9-12, 2026
Nearly a decade after Brian Richardson called for a theory of unnatural narrative, has cognitivism gained a firm foothold in the study of narratives that break mimetic conventions or present physically or logically impossible scenarios? This panel takes stock of the latest efforts at using cognitive science tools to account for the appeal of stories told in the voice of animals, robots, AI, rocks, and other “things.” What happens to embodiment or embodied cognition when there are no (human) bodies to speak of? How do authors navigate the imperatives of capturing an alien ontology/umwelt and retaining allegorical recognition/human interest? Is the distinction between real and fictional minds still relevant to a cognitive theory of unnatural narrative?
This non-guaranteed panel is sponsored by TC Cognitive and Affect Studies. Please send 250-word abstract and bio to Haiyan Lee (haiyan@stanford.edu) by March 8, 2025. Submissions by scholars (any stage/rank) working in the East Asian contexts are most welcome.