by Oppositional Conversations Editorial Board
The theme for our next issue is “possession.” The term is capacious. It references both objects and states of being. It can refer to the state of having, owning, or controlling something or someone. It can also refer to the experience of being subjected to visible and invisible power or control. The term is used in a variety of settings, from sports (“they took possession of the ball”) to colonial politics (“Britain closely guarded its colonial possessions”) to law (“the defendant was charged with possession of an illegal substance”) and (of course) religion (“she was possessed by a demon”). The term is used in a variety of academic discourses—anthropology, literature, law, and diplomacy—each of which has attached its own meanings to the term. Because the term holds so many possibilities, the editorial committee is open to any kind of creative and/or scholarly work that probes any (or any combination) of them. We welcome scholarly analyses, essays, reviews, memoir, fiction, artwork, poetry, stories, plays, photography—what you will.