“Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose.”
— Zora Neale Hurston
About The Scattered Pelican
The Scattered Pelican is a double-anonymized peer-reviewed journal run by Languages and Cultures graduate students at Western University. It is registered in the Network of International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) with the number 2369-5404 as a Canadian Academic Journal.
The Scattered Pelican’s guiding principle is to present new scholarship that is pluralistic in regard to methods, approaches, and objects of study within the framework of rigorous comparative studies. To the fullest extent permitted by thoroughly interrogative research, The Scattered Pelican cultivates a playful perspective that challenges canonical discourses and forms of literature and media. The Journal has usually one issue annually, with occasional second special or themed issues during some years. You can read more about themes and scopes, upcoming issues, and review/copyright information in our “For Authors” page.
Our mission is to host novel, pluralistic, and cutting-edge research which challenge canonical discourses within the field of comparative theory and praxis.
Journal’s Trifold Purpose:
The journal’s primary purpose is to attract research that is variant, pluralistic, and
inclusive.
The journal’s secondary purpose is to publish scholarship inclusive of innovative and
niche approaches and methodologies and concerned with multiple forms of literature
and other media.
The journal’s tertiary purpose is to cultivate a playful perspective that aligns with the
latest trends in comparative literature, its expansion to media and cultural studies, the
centrality of literary history and literary theory in the field, and an active and conscious
pursuit of enlarging the space of the discipline through deep engagement with its newest
themes and areas of focus.
The Scope of The Journal:
The Scattered Pelican’s scope is located in the general knowledge category of humanities and its intersection with social sciences, within the field of cultural studies and the discipline of Comparative Literature.
- The journal’s general scope is publishing the theory and praxis regarding cultural products – including but not limited to literature – to cultivate a playful perspective that challenges canonical discourses and forms of literature and media permitted by thoroughly interrogative research.
- The journal defines Comparative Literature in its broadest sense and publishes articles on the international history of literature, theory of literature, methods of literary scholarship, cultural and interdisciplinary analysis, novel applications of critical theory, intersection of cultural studies and digital humanities, primary creative texts in their original languages from more peripheral literary traditions, and the relation of literature with other areas of human expression, amongst other relevant themes.
- The scope also includes both literary and academic translations, and both solicited and unsolicited book reviews of latest or most influential publications in the discipline.
Our values:
- The Scattered Pelican is firmly committed to maintaining neutrality, refraining from promoting any specific ideology, academic freedom, and unconditional freedom of speech, as well as promoting decolonisation of academia, cultures, and lands inside and outside Canada.
- The Journal values equal opportunity for all academics regardless of their gender, political tendency, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, racial and ethnic status, or any other aspect of their personal identity and ideological discourse.
- The journal acknowledges that the Canadian institutions including Western University are situated on the ancestral and unceded lands of Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island, including First Nations, Inuit communities, and Métis whose profound cultural, spiritual, and historical connections to this land continues to this day and shall be treated with utmost priority for the future of academic endeavors in Canada. The journal recognises and acknowledges the deep and lasting impact of colonisation and systemic injustice that still shapes the lives and futures of Indigenous peoples, and it also respects and welcomes the diverse perspectives and experiences of all who reside on this planet regardless of their commitment to any specific system of thought.
- The journal does not tolerate any form of personal attack and disrespect, nor any kind of harassment whether verbal or non-verbal, violent or passive, pertaining to gender or any other recognisable identity feature. This includes in actions and behaviours of those involved in the journal, and in writings of all contributors.
- Every member with any connection to The Scattered Pelican, regardless of whether they have a position within the board or they are one of the authors for a single issue, is expected to adhere to the core values of the journal.
The Scattered Pelican 