PHAINOMENON
JOURNAL OF PHENOMENOLOGICAL PHILOSOPHY

SPECIAL ISSUE
PHENOMENOLOGY AND LITERATURE

CALL FOR PAPERS

Does phenomenology have anything to say about literature?
Considering what is usually known about the 20th century phenomenological tradition, it seems perfectly legitimate to raise such a question. After all, the founder of the phenomenological movement himself, Edmund Husserl, apart from a few remarks and suggestions dropped here and there in the midst of the thousands of lines of his work, did not offer any systematical survey of the phenomenon of literature. Additionally, Heidegger, in Being and Time—a book of which it would not be exaggerated to say it has inspired successive generations of phenomenologists—did not seem to be naturally inclined to talk about it. And it is striking that, even after Being and Time, Heidegger ends up dealing with literature (as poetry) precisely at the moment he decides to leave all phenomenology behind him. If this is true, then it turns out that, according to Heidegger, to see the connexion between philosophy and literature (or poetry) involves – or goes hand in hand with – transcending phenomenology.
That being said, it is also true that many later phenomenologists did talk about literature within a phenomenological framework. This applies for instance to Sartre’s What is Literature?; to Ricoeur’s phenomenological hermeneutics of literature in Time and Narrative; to Iser’s phenomenology of reading in Der Akt des Lesens; to Ingarden’s attempt, inspired by Husserl, of developing a Ontology of the Literary Work of Art; or to Bachelard’s phenomenology of the imaginary in Poetics of Space. And if we further extend the meaning of phenomenology so as to include all of those who, though they do not present themselves explicitly as phenomenologists, were inspired by Husserl or Heidegger, the range of authors to be considered will drastically increase: from Foucault’s Les Mots et les Choses; to Deleuze’s Proust et les signes or Kafka; via Goldman’s Le Dieu Caché; Derrida’s Marges de la philosophie, to mention just a few.
At this point, new questions arise: why do these philosophers, whose projects are “phenomenological” in the strong or in the looser sense of the word, intend to talk about literature? Why should it be important for them and what do they have to say about it? Should we think of these different phenomenologies of literature as ultimately irreconcilable approaches, or do they (or at least some of them) share family resemblances?
The first 2021 issue of Phainomenon aims at dealing with these different questions. It thus wishes to contribute to the development of a systematic history of the phenomenology of literature, as well as to offer a first glimpse of how phenomenology proceeds when it comes to literature, considered as a “phenomenon of phenomenology”.


Suggested topics for contributions contain but are not limited to:
1. Historical attempts to reconstruct and problematize already existing phenomenologies – or phenomenologically inspired philosophies – of literature, be they
a. Phenomenologies of literature in general (Sartre’s, Ingarden’s, Bachelard’s, etc.)
b. Phenomenologies of such and such specific kind of literature (Heidegger’s approach to poetry, Goldman’s phenomenology applied to drama, etc.),
c. Phenomenologies of such and such writer (Deleuze’s Proust or Kafka, Goldman’s Racine, etc.).
2. Specific inquiries into the imaginative and fictional dimension of literature, for instance:
a. Fiction;
b. Fantasy/imagination;
c. Possible worlds;
d. Understanding/interpretation;
e. Worldview;
f. Aesthetic values.
3. Full-fledged phenomenological attempts to theorize the literature phenomenon in general, or such and such of its different aspects, for instance
a. Phenomenology of reading;
b. Phenomenology of scientific interpretation of literary works;
c. Phenomenology of literary plots;
d. Phenomenology of social reception.

Call for paper’s deadline for the submission of manuscripts: March 30, 2021
Notification of acceptance, conditional acceptance, or rejection: May 30, 2021.
Deadline for the submission of the final draft: June 30, 2021.

Journal’s Policies
Phainomenon is an international six-monthly journal (published in Spring and Fall by Sciendo, De Gruyter Verlag) specializing in phenomenology. It seeks to contribute to the development of phenomenological studies worldwide, stimulating original work in all fields of phenomenological research, as well as in the areas where phenomenology crosses paths with other philosophical traditions and scientific domains. Phainomenon publishes works in English (recommended), Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, and German. Contributions are accepted following a double or single-blind peer review process, always with external reviewers. Regularly, the journal has two sections: a general section, where papers are continuously received and published; and a thematic section, preceded by an announcement and a call for papers, sometimes under the responsibility of guest editors. Moreover, Phainomenon publishes book reviews and bibliographical notes and, though not on a regular basis, translations into Portuguese of fundamental texts belonging to the intellectual patrimony of phenomenology.


Guidelines for the authors
Submissions should not exceed 9,000 words including abstract, references and footnotes. Submissions must contain: 1) the manuscript, including author’s identification and affiliation; 2) another manuscript for anonymous review, excluding author’s identification and affiliation, as well as any other means of identification; 3) a “Cover Page” with name, academic affiliation and contact details. The manuscripts must be presented in .doc or .docx format and submitted on Phainomenon’s website (https://phainomenon-journal.pt/index.php/phainomenon/about/submissions), mentioning in the email’s subject the title of the call: “Phenomenology and Literature”.

Manuscripts must include an English abstract of less than 150 words and 5 keywords. Any property of the file that might identify the author must be removed to ensure anonymity during the review process. A notification of receipt will be issued for each submission. In drafting their text, authors can adopt any clear and coherent style, but should the text be accepted for publication, they will be required to send a final version in keeping with the style guidelines of the journal
Style guidelines are available at:
http://phainomenon-journal.pt/index.php/phainomenon/about/submissions

Submission of a manuscript is understood to imply that the paper has not been published before and that it is not being considered for publication by any other journal. Requests to republish the article may be made to the Editorial Board of the Journal.