S.E.L.O.U.T., is CURRENTLY WORKING ON A SERIES of PUBLICATIONS THAT WILL SERVE AS A platform for practical and theoretical research on the NOTION of "influence." Each issue will focus on a specific theme from various perspectives through the OPTICS of "influence."
The inaugural issue OF OUR PUBLICATION SERIES to be RELEASED in 2024, will be dedicated to the theme of graves (tombs/cemeteries). We invite papers, essays, poems, drawings, concept plans, diagrams, etc., from all over the world that are related to this topic and wish to be published in this journal.
While most things produced in this world are records of the "content of existence" created during the lifetime of a particular being, the grave, as a device for burying the dead, can be considered as A record OF the very "fact of existence" that a PARTICULAR being lived. as such a unique remnant, the grave may be one of the most PRIMORDIAL "instrumentS of influence" in that it opens a finite life to the possibility of regeneration (in a broad sense) in an undetermined future. What kind of theories and practices might open up if we unravel the network of activities and notions surrounding death, such as "funeral rites," "memorial," "mourning," and "religion," by taking as a starting point the intersection of "grave" and "influence"? Could the age-old custom of burying of the dead seen in a new light via the peculiar twist of causality involved in the workings of influence, in which an effect that can only take place on the receiving end is nevertheless anticipated?
To commemorate the birth OF THIS NEW SERIES OF PUBLICATIONS, we would like to consider the possibilities of demise and rebirth, which are inevitably folded into life, through the specific operation and behavior of the grave as an "instrument of influence." We look forward to stimulating ideas and exciting arguments from a variety of disciplines and perspectives, including funerary practices, different forms and institutional divisions of grave markers and cemeteries, their entanglement with state power and political economy, debates over "natural burial" and "freedom of burial," PREEMPTION of time in "grave selection" and "living burial," proposals for possible and impossible graves, or artworks, PERFORMANCES, literature AND GAME dealing with CEMETeRIES, ETC.
●The selection process will be conducted in two phases. Applicants must first submit an abstract/PROPOSAL of AROUND 400 words that briefly outlines the INTENDED submission by JANUARY 30, 2024, using the form below (OR EMAIL S.E.L.O.U.T. with your name AND affiliation). We will review your abstract/PROPOSAL and contact you with the results. The actual deadline for THE manuscript is scheduled for MARCH 31, 2024. Submitted manuscripts will be peer-reviewed before a final decision is made.
●Submissions may be WRITTEN in either Japanese or English. For other languages, please consult with us separately. Accepted manuscripts will be translated (if necessary) into English if in Japanese and into Japanese if in English.
SUBMISSION FORM