Call for proposals: Book chapters on Japanese aesthetics and cultural patterns

Contributions are being sought for a peer-reviewed, English-language edited volume centered upon the development of aesthetic concepts and cultural patterns in Japan.

Planned for publication in the latter half of 2024, the Handbook of Japanese Aesthetics will join other projects already in progress for a series offered by Japan Documents Publishing, an imprint of MHM Limited. Topics in the Handbooks series are intended to provide substantive examinations of understudied topics in Japanese studies, and to generate fresh discussion and debate within the field. We actively seek contributions not only by established scholars, but also by independent scholars, newly minted PhDs, and current doctoral candidates in the field.

Topics may include (but are not limited to):
– Historical development/interpretation of core aesthetic terms/concepts in any time period;
– Case studies in the application or interpretation of Japanese aesthetic values;
– Discussions of distinctively Japanese cultural patterns or social values (e.g. omotenashi);
– Paired submissions that treat aesthetic concerns from alternate angles.

Kindly submit expressions of interest to Mindy Landeck ¹ by July 25, 2022. Please include a provisional title, a 250-word abstract (max), and a brief bio including your full title, current affiliation, contact details, and a description of your current areas of research.

For approved abstracts, full chapter submissions of 6,000 to 8,000 words each will be due about one calendar year later, on or before August 1, 2023.

Mindy Landeck, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of East Asian Studies, Austin College
mlandeckaustincollege.edu