Call for Papers — Multiple Marginalities: Intersectional Resistance(s) in Canadian Comics/Graphic Novels

2026-02-24

Multiple Marginalities: Intersectional Resistance(s) in Canadian Comics/Graphic Novels

A special issue of Studies in Canadian Literature

Marginality and intersectionality are culturally produced and historically contingent.  Similarly, comics exist in sociocultural and historical marginality. In Canadian comics and graphic novels, marginality can be understood through questions of place, understandings of multiculturalism, identity, language, and access to visibility. Considering the variable nature of marginality, this special issue asks, how do Canadian comics and graphic novels represent and disseminate these positions?  How do these comics interpret Canadian realities?  How do comic representations complement or complicate (or resist) essentialized notions of the Canadian nation itself?  How do the genre and form of Canadian comics and graphic narratives act as a tool for intersectional resistance against systemic injustice? How might we rework acts of comic/graphic novel production and reading with marginality?  How do comics function as a space for marginal voices? In addition to seeking articles on Canadian comics, we are also inviting proposals on non-Canadian (produced/published in other countries) comics about Canada and the idea of “Canadianness.”

We invite papers that address the following themes on Canadian comics but also welcome articles that move beyond these boundaries. We welcome papers in English or French. 

Representations of marginality in Canadian comics and graphic novels
Indigenous comics and/or graphic storytelling
Francophone and/or bilingual comics/bande dessinée
Canadian manga and manga-influence graphic narratives
Northern, rural, or wilderness in Canadian comics
Regionality in Canadian comics
Canadian comics on marginalized bodies/identities
Canadian comics of resistance and/or censorship
Underground comix in Canada
Women in Canadian comics
Disability in Canadian comics
Queer and 2SLGBTQI+ in Canadian comics
Explorations of stereotypes in Canadian comics
Canada as a marginal producer of comics
Non-Canadian comics about Canada

We welcome submissions of essays of 6000-8000 words, including Notes and Works Cited, by 30 September 2026, on topics related to Canadian Comics. English contributions should conform to the MLA Handbook, 9th edition; French submissions to Le guide du rédacteur (Translation Bureau, 1996). Submissions should be sent via Word attachment to scl@unb.ca.

Publication projected for summer 2027.

For further details about submissions, visit https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/SCL or contact Sayanti Mondal (Ithaca College) smondal@ithaca.edu OR Jasmine Redford (University of Saskatchewan) jasmine.redford@usask.ca OR Chris Reyns-Chikuma (University of Alberta) reynschi@ualberta.ca. 