Decolonising Religion, Literature and Culture Panel (Fiona Darroch)

This panel will explore the central role of postcolonial critique historically, and decolonial critique more recently, to rupture grand narratives and challenge positions of power. The panel aims to draw attention to the painful ruptures, and continued ripple effect, caused by colonial and neocolonial regimes, geographically, economically, environmentally and spiritually. The panel invites participants to dwell on groundbreaking theoretical incentives such as: Gayatri Spivak’s famous image of dancing at the fault lines; Edward Glissant’s poetics of relation; and Derek Walcott’s reassembling of a broken vase. Dancing occurs at the fault lines of history. Literature, poetry, the creative arts and religious practice continue to be the enactments of resistance and reconstruction. Scholarship in Literature, Religion and Culture therefore plays a key role in providing the critical language and urgent enquiry in response to these enactments.

The panel also responds to the current theoretical rupture from post- to de- colonial approaches. This shift draws attention to the need to more actively identify, confront and change the colonial tropes that still inform governance, education and citizenship: to de-colonise institutions and practices. It also exposes inherent tensions, ironies and injustices within academic work that need addressing, such as the ’postcolonial’ being owned by and serving the Euro-American academic elite – can the subaltern ever speak and be heard? This is an example of disrupting the rupture. How do we keep disrupting the comfort of our positionality as scholars, artists and citizens? The panel therefore invites contributions from scholars and artists working in the field of postcolonial and world literatures, post/de-colonial theory, cultures and religions.

Queries and abstract proposals of no more than 350 words should be sent to Fiona Darroch (University of Stirling) at fiona.darroch@stir.ac.uk no later than 31st January, 2026.