Category: Call for Submissions

Special Roundtable: Translating the Foods of the World, 14 December, 9.30am (ET)

Gastronomica
A color book of sweets from the early modern period in Japan (1600-1868) called Illustrated Catalog of Confections (Kashi zufu) in the collection of the Ajinomoto Dietary Culture Library.

We’re excited to share this special event, co-hosted by the Culinaria Research Centre at the University of Toronto and the Center for East Asian Studies at The University of Kansas. This follows our recent call for submissions on the same theme, published both on this site and in extended form in our latest issue, 21.4 (open access), so will be invaluable to both early-career and established scholars considering working towards such a publication.

Hosted by Krishnendu Ray, and featuring Eric C. Rath, Robert Valgenti, Miranda Brown, and Saumya Gupta, this was a virtual event dedicated to critical questions such as:

What does it mean to translate food texts? What are the challenges and opportunities relating to such translations? How must translators develop new vocabularies to express Indigenous concepts? How do translators engage with historical non-English texts like recipes that may assume more information and insight than they provide, and how has culinary terminology changed over time in tandem with other historical developments?

What does it mean to translate food and culinary knowledge? How do we all translate food in everyday ways, through oral transmission, adaptation, food experiences, etc.? How are oral traditions translated into text? How should translators consider their audience, including those seeking culinary application?

For anyone who was not able to attend, please enjoy the recording below of a fascinating conversation between our host and panelists:

Thank you to everyone who joined us, and we look forward to exciting culinary translation submissions!

“Water Works”: A Call for Papers for a Special Issue

Gastronomica

The Gastronomica Editorial Collective invites submissions for a special issue on water.

Essential to life, key to cooking, and making up more than 50% of the human body, water is fundamental yet often ignored, dismissed, wasted, even feared as a source of contamination. As people in many parts of the world have become accustomed to water-intensive agriculture and food production processes, others are struggling with water access. The United Nations estimates that more than 2 billion people worldwide lack access to safe water, a condition that is exacerbated by political conflict and environmental degradation, resulting in devastating consequences for food security and health.

With such a topic that defies categorization, our guidelines for submissions are perhaps more fluid than in a typical CFP. We want to see a flood of creative and scholarly pieces, translations, as well as artworks that explore a wide range of interdisciplinary interactions and intersections from sensory science to environmental studies, from food production to culinary history, from social justice to cultural and community perspectives. We ask authors to think broadly and deeply about topics addressing, for example:

  • water rights and Indigenous communities;
  • water and innovations in agriculture, brewing, winemaking, and other arenas of food and drink;
  • impacts of climate change on food production and coastal communities;
  • the changing specter of water;
  • water, food chains, and culinary infrastructure;
  • the promise and perils of aquaculture and aquaponics;
  • food and watersheds;
  • floating markets and distribution channels;
  • taste; access, inequity, and waste.

Research articles and critical translations (with introductions, reference lists, and notes) should be between 4000-8000 words. In addition, we invite creative Food Phenomena pieces that focus on water, including creative essays and visual works, such as photo essays (see art submission guidelines here). Both Scholarly and Food Phenomena pieces should be submitted via the journal’s ScholarOne platform, following our submission guidelines. 

Deadline for submissions for this special issue: 15 May 2022.

*Please note that we continue to invite all other forms of Scholarly and Food Phenomena submissions on a variety of topics for future issues.

“Translating the Foods of the World” – A Call for Translations and Reflections on Translating the Worlds of Food

Gastronomica

Gastronomica is pleased to introduce a new journal section with an exclusive focus on translation(s).

Even recipes written in English a century ago need contextualization (if not actual translation of now-obsolete words and/or ingredients) for readers today. Such a task is even more complicated when it comes to translating and adapting centuries-old works from other languages into English, be they cookbooks, primers to survive famine or to cook with rationed foods, guides to “healthy” eating, or similar texts. Despite these challenges, making such primary sources more accessible to students and researchers around the world is critical to stimulating and maintaining the growth of diverse voices in global food studies.  

We therefore invite submission of

  • translations into English of key culinary texts originally written in any language (though currently not available in English), and from all regions of the world. Translations can be of entire texts, or part(s) thereof with critical commentary;
  • essays reflecting on the challenges and opportunities relating to such translations (for example, the need to develop new vocabularies to express indigenous concepts; how translators engage with historical non-English texts like recipes that may assume more information and insight than they provide, and how culinary terminology has changed over time in tandem with other historical developments and shifts);
  • collaborative works featuring two or more scholars in dialogue about a specific translation, and/or (but not limited to) any of the issues outlined above.

We envision clustering translations and other accepted submissions thematically or geographically, with an introduction by one or more contributors, or other invited subject-matter experts.

Essays or translations (with introductions, reference lists, and notes) should be between 4000-8000 words, and should be submitted via the journal’s ScholarOne platform and should otherwise follow the submission guidelines for Scholarly Submissions.

*Please note that we continue to invite all other forms of Scholarly and Food Phenomena submissions, including creative visual works such as photo essays (see art submission guidelines here), and pieces with a focus on food, justice and activism.