Call for Papers 2/2027
LITERARY THEORY AFTER THE END OF THEORY

We would like to reflect on the place of literary theory in contemporary academic literary studies. Is modern literary theory, which has been developing since the second decade of the last century, now exclusively a historical fact? Has it been replaced by cultural theories, new extradisciplinary critical discourses, and heterogeneous, provisional constellations of traveling concepts? And if so, what is their relationship to literature and literary studies? Do we actually live in the era of "post-theory", and what does this really mean? Is it possible to conduct literary research without any overarching methodology or theory legitimizing professionalism of our scholarly undertakings? Or maybe, paradoxically, there is no shortage of theory in contemporary literary studies? Perhaps, in a time of flourishing theoretical reflection driven by successive critical turns, there is an excess of theory that overwhelms both our interpretive interventions and literary-historical endeavors?

We invite submissions that analyze the contemporary condition of literary theory, as well as those that reflect on the processes leading, over the last half-century, to the loss of theory's privileged position and decisive influence on literary critical practice. We anticipate publishing the issue in Polish, however, we also welcome papers in English.

Sample topics may encompass the following areas of interest:

– historical and contemporary relations between literary theory, literature, and extradisciplinary critical discourses;

– contemporary concepts of the return to philology and their impact on the shape of literary studies;

– the status of poetics vis-à-vis contemporary theory and the transformation of the poetological research formula;

– the legacy of the structuralist school, and the influence of post-structuralism and deconstruction on contemporary literary studies;

– the consequences of the cultural turn for literary research;

– the crisis of literary theory and the threat of the de-disciplinization and de-professionalization of literary studies;

– terminological inventiveness and the proliferation of theoretical turns in the face of the decline of systemic literary-theoretical reflection;

– forms of "practicing theory" and new ways of conducting theoretical discourse;

– institutional and technological determinants of the evolution of theoretical thought in literary studies over recent decades;

- transmediality and the perspectives of literary-theoretical reflection after the auditory and visual turns (text-visual and text-audial relations, post-literacy).

Naturally, the suggested topics do not exhaust the thematic scope of our planned issue. We also look forward to proposals addressing problem areas not mentioned above. We expect submissions, edited in accordance with the guidelines available on the journal's website, by November 15, 2026. Submissions are accepted via email at: wieloglos.redakcja@uj.edu.pl, and through the "Submit an Article" link on the Wielogłos homepage (https://www.ejournals.eu/Wieloglos/).