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CFP: International Society for the Study of Surrealism (ISSS), Glasgow, Scotland, Aug. 2026

Type: Calls For Papers [View all]
Posted by: University of Glasgow
Deadline: Mon, March 30th, 2026

 

The International Society for the Study of Surrealism (ISSS) will hold its 8th annual conference at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, on 18-20 August 2026. The conference theme is LIGHT, though proposals on any Surrealism-related topic are welcome.

Guidlines

Deadline: 30 March 2026.

Please send proposals to isssglasgow2026@gmail.com.

 

 

 

Individual papers: Proposals should include a title, 250-word abstract, professional affiliation (if applicable), email address, and a brief biography (100 words maximum) of the presenter. Presentations are 20 minutes maximum.

 

Pre-organised panels: We especially encourage proposals for pre-organized panels consisting of 3-4 papers. These should include all of the above for each presenter, plus a supporting paragraph (250 words maximum) explaining the rationale for the panel.

 

Alternative formats: Roundtables and other alternative formats are also welcome.

 

We particularly encourage proposals from PhD candidates working on topics related to Surrealism, as well as from independent artists, filmmakers, poets, and writers interested in presenting their work in an academic context.

 

The languages of intervention will be English, French, and Spanish.

 

Why LIGHT?

Surrealism seeks to make the invisible visible, to shine its critical light for the discovery of inner worlds as well as to uncover material violence, injustice, and other dark forces. Surrealism is also commensurate with some of the radical hypotheses and discoveries being made in quantum physics regarding light and other phenomena that signal the radical strangeness of the sub-atomic world and the wider universe, as well as other forms of energy and force imperceptible to humans without (or even with) the use of technology. So too Surrealism, like light, can be diffractive, refracted, dispersed, dualist and contradictory (wave/particle).

As a theme for approaching Surrealism, ‘light’ assumes further connotations according to linguistic and cultural context: ‘Light’ can be understood as a noun (beacon, phare, point de Rassemblement; a form of electromagnetic radiation), as an adjective connoting the absence of weight and materiality, as a transitive or prepositional verb, or as human and divine idiom (dar a luz, the Light of the World). Equally, Surrealism can also occlude: the movement and its history can become their own forms of light, placing some in the spotlight and leaving others unseen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on Thu, March 5th, 2026
Expires on Mon, March 30th, 2026

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