CFP: SPECIAL ISSUE - ​Art and Imagination: Philosophical Issues (Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics)

Call for Papers

Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics

SPECIAL ISSUE – Art and Imagination: Philosophical Issues

Though some have dismissed the imagination as “the junkyard of the mind,” just about all artists will vouch for the fact that the imagination is not just essential but also central to the arts. This is true not only of the creation or production of artworks, it is the case also when it comes to the reception or experience of art.

The imagination is a topic in the philosophies of mind and psychology, in addition to other fields. Researchers who work in these areas have spent a lot of time investigating such issues as consciousness and intentionality (very roughly, the object-directedness or aboutness of mental states). But while these two topics are undoubtedly central to their fields, those who work in the philosophies of mind and psychology would do well to broaden their horizons and also explore other topics such as the nature of the imagination. Also relevant here would be empirical data from studies in neuroscience, cognitive science, artificial intelligence, and so on.

Besides many others, here is a brief, non-exhaustive list of broadly at least two sorts of philosophical issues pertaining to art and imagination.

One kind of topics cuts across all the arts. What is the nature of the creative imagination or creativity? Is the imagination involved in our experience of art? If so, how? What about mental imagery? How does the artist’s imagination (or pratibha, in Indian aesthetics) bear on the evaluation of an artwork? And does it also affect the value of art?

The other set of issues is specific to at least some of the arts. Is the imagination involved in the viewer’s experience of pictures, and if so, how? What about the other visual arts such as sculpture, photography, and film? And what are we to say of the role of imagination in the case of fiction when many of us claim to feel empathy or sympathy for or identification with fictional characters we know are not real but only make-believe? Is the imagination involved more generally in experiencing fiction, and if so, how? What about our experience of the other arts such as music, dance, and architecture, for example? For that matter, how about newer art forms such as video games?

Manuscripts in MS Word (6,000–12,000 words) following the MLA style should be sent to [email protected] by 31 December 2024.

Website: jcla.in

ABOUT THE JOURNAL

The Journal of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics (ISSN: 0252-8169) is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal published by Vishvanatha Kaviraja Institute of Comparative Literature and Aesthetics, India, since 1977. The Institute was founded by Prof. Ananta Charan Sukla (1942-2020) on 22 August 1977, coinciding with the birth centenary of renowned philosopher, aesthetician, and historian of Indian art Ananda K. Coomaraswamy (1877-1947) to promote interdisciplinary studies and research in comparative literature, literary theory and criticism, aesthetics, philosophy, art history, criticism of the arts, and history of ideas. (Vishvanatha Kaviraja, most widely known for his masterpiece in aesthetics, Sahityadarpana, or the “Mirror of Composition,” was a prolific 14th-century Indian poet, scholar, aesthetician, and rhetorician.)

The Journal publishes essays and book reviews ranging across the literary and philosophical traditions of the East and the West, addressing interdisciplinary and cross-cultural issues in literary understanding and interpretation, aesthetic theories, conceptual analysis of art, literature, philosophy, religion, mythology, history of ideas, literary theory, history, and criticism. It also publishes special issues of current critical interest and contemporary relevance.

The Journal has published the finest of essays by authors of global renown like René Wellek, Harold Osborne, John Hospers, John Fisher, Murray Krieger, Martin Bocco, Remo Ceserani, J.B. Vickery, Menachem Brinker, Milton Snoeyenbos, Mary Wiseman, Ronald Roblin, T.R. Martland, S.C. Sengupta, K.R.S. Iyengar, Charles Altieri, Martin Jay, Jonathan Culler, Richard Shusterman, Robert Kraut, Terry Diffey, T.R. Quigley, R.B. Palmer, Keith Keating, and many others.

Celebrated scholars of the time like René Wellek, Harold Osborne, Mircea Eliade, Monroe Beardsley, John Hospers, John Fisher, Meyer Abrams, John Boulton, and many renowned foreign and Indian scholars were Members of the Editorial Board of the journal.

JCLA is indexed and abstracted in the MLA International Bibliography, Master List of Periodicals (USA), Ulrich’s Directory of Periodicals, ERIH PLUS, The Philosopher’s Index (Philosopher’s Information Center), EBSCO, ProQuest (Arts Premium Collection, Art, Design & Architecture Collection, Arts & Humanities Database, Literature Online – Full Text Journals, ProQuest Central, ProQuest Central Essentials), Abstracts of English Studies, WorldCat Directory, ACLA, India Database, Gale (Cengage Learning), International Directory of Philosophy (PDC), Bibliography History of Art (BHA), ArtBibliographies Modern (ABM), Literature Online (LION), Academic Resource Index, Book Review Index Plus, OCLC, Periodicals Index Online (PIO), Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals, Series and Publishers, CNKI, PhilPapers, Google Scholar, Expanded Academic ASAP, BASE, Indian Documentation Service, Publication Forum (JuFo), Summon, J-Gate, MIAR (Matriz de Información para el Análisis de Revistas), United States Library of Congress, New York Public Library, BL on Demand and the British Library. The journal is also indexed in numerous university (central) libraries, state, and public libraries, and scholarly organizations/ learned societies databases.

Founding Editor: Ananta Charan Sukla, Vishvanatha Kaviraja Institute, India