Ex Plus Ultra launches 2nd edition
The 2nd edition of Ex Plus Ultra– an international postgraduate eJournal of colonial and imperial history, and postcolonial theory- is now live.
This year the journal has been edited by postgraduate students at the University of Leeds and seeks to interrogate several linked strands of debate regarding the human. It asks whether this concept retains usefulness with respect to a field that emphasises cultural plurality, and even questions the benefits and ethics of such a conceptual abstraction: to what end do we discuss representations of the ‘human’ while in the global South millions lead materially subhuman existences? Does the use of ‘human’ in calls for ‘human rights’ or against ‘human suffering’ not occlude the application of late colonial or neo‐liberal ideas of the human to potentially incommensurable situations? More generally, how have humanist discourses responded to the accelerating advance of globalisation and uneven development?
The journal includes a range of sections from more traditional academic writing, to reviews and creative writing pieces. ‘Features’draw together three articles which respond to our call for papers. Adrian Knapp offers an analysis of the way in which postcolonial memory is articulated through transformative storytelling. Rahul Prasad presents a highly personalized critique of ideas of ‘mixed‐race’through a reading of Hari Kunzru’s The Impressionist (2002) while Alexej Ulbricht considers whether it is possible to rethink the universality of human rights without reducing it to a normative Western particularity.
Supplementing and extending the featured articles are sections showcasing a selection of creative writing, both prose and poetry, taken from emerging artists in Yorkshire. Including Adam Lowe, a writer and publisher whose work has been nominated for numerous high profile literary awards, and, David Tate, winner of the Alison Moreland poetry prize. The journal also features a range of interviews, book and film reviews which open up new dimensions on the theme. The final contribution to the journal is the most experimental section ‘Frames’ which has created a space for collaborative dialogue with Rebecca Ashworth and Nalini Mohabir, students at the Universities of Reading and Leeds respectively entering into a conversation about how technology and the human collide through an analysis of Lynn Nottage’s Ruined.
Ex Plus Ultra is a peripatetic project that was founded by a postgraduate editorial team at The University of Sydney. In 2011 the journal team will be located at The University of Bristol. The editors welcome your comments and hope you enjoy exploring this exciting resource.
Contact: Lizzy Finn, University of Leeds
