Volume 1: Diaspora (most recent addition: February 12, 2016)
Volume 2: Cultural Survival (most recent addition: December 2, 2013)
Volume 3: Gender (accepting submissions)
Volume 4: Nationalism (most recent addition: October 30, 2015)
Volume 5: Warfare (most recent addition: March 13, 2007)
Volume 6: The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula (closed)
Volume 7: Cyber Celtic (most recent addition: June 15, 2008)
Volume 8: Religion and Ideology (most recent addition: November 21, 2016)
Book Reviews (most recent addition: October 4, 2016)
Each of the themes listed below represents a currently active issue of e-Keltoi. As long as a theme remains an Active Issue, submissions to the issue will continue to be accepted. Each theme is briefly described below, followed by a list of suggestions for submissions that is not intended to be comprehensive. If you have an idea for a submission that does not perfectly match any of the suggestions, send a title and an abstract to the General Editor requesting a preliminary evaluation of the topic. The Active Issues page will change over time as we archive issues and replace the old themes with new ones. Check back regularly to find out whether an issue to which you might be interested in contributing has been posted. You may also propose a themed issue yourself, and take on the job of soliciting submissions for review by sending an issue title and abstract to the General Editor for preliminary review by the Editorial Board.
Diaspora
The Celtic speaking peoples of Europe, both continental and insular, have experienced many periods of high mobility. Motivated by a sense of adventure, the search for a better life, economic gain, or desperate need, the Celtic diaspora is represented by living populations in the Antipodes, North, Central and South America, and Africa, among other parts of the world. Archaeological evidence for large-scale population movement tracks the migration of whole tribes as far east as Turkey, and Celtic mercenaries are known to have made it all the way to Egypt. Papers on this subject could include the following:
- Archaeological evidence for the movement of Celtic peoples
- Linguistic evidence of migration as seen in place names, language variation etc.
- Genetic evidence for migration
- Historical accounts of Celtic migration
- Biographies of migrants
- Literary treatments of the experience of migration, including fiction, poetry, drama
- Celtic migration as depicted in film
- Musical traditions as a record of the movement of peoples
- Effects of Celtic migration on other countries and cultures
Cultural Survival
One of the hallmarks of Celtic peoples is the tenacity with which they maintain their cultural traditions in the face of dislocation, disaster and disenfranchisement. This is as true for the Iron Age Celtic inhabitants of the tell mound at Gordion in Turkey as for the Irish community in Sydney, Australia or the descendants of Cornish miners in Mineral Point, Wisconsin. It is also true for the living peoples of Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, the Isle of Man or Brittany today, who indeed can be said in some cases to be experiencing a cultural florescence. At the same time, all cultures are mutable, and change inevitably occurs. This issue welcomes contributions on the following:
- Language: continuity and change
- Popular culture as a vehicle for cultural survival
- Musical traditions: their past, present and future
- Community organizations as a vehicle for cultural survival
- Religious traditions: pre-Christian pagan, neo-pagan and Christian Celtic; syncretism, cultural continuity, revival
- Literature as a vehicle for cultural transmission
- Performing arts as an expression and mechanism of cultural survival
- Cultural survival as portrayed in film
Gender
Gender is one of the most important variables involved in the construction of difference across cultures, second only to distinctions made on the basis of age. Relations between women and men, how the world is organized, kinship structures, economic systems, the division of labor, and linguistic characteristics are just some of the elements of human life affected by gender configurations. This topic is especially broad, and the papers can be drawn from any of a wide range of possible sources, including:
- Archaeological evidence for gender configurations in the Celtic world before the introduction of writing
- Classical Greek and Roman sources referring to Celtic gender configurations
- Insular written sources relating to gender, including epics, mythology and law texts
- Language as an expression of gender in the Celtic world
- Biographies
- Historical evidence for changing gender roles in the Celtic-speaking world
- Women as poets, dramatists, painters, musicians, artists of any type in the Celtic-speaking world
- Religion and gender relations in the Celtic world, past, present and future
- Public policy and gender
Nationalism
The Celts, however defined, have had propaganda value at least since Julius Caesar’s campaigns in Gaul in the 1st century BC. In the 21st century they are touted by some as the original European Union, while at the same time various nation-states and ethnic groups base their sense of separate identity on their Celtic roots. Not surprisingly, the question of what the term “Celtic” means, and who should be able to define it has been a major focus of current debates centering on national and ethnic identity. A diverse number of academic disciplines have been drawn into this debate, from folklore and linguistics to genetics and archaeology. Many practitioners in these fields and subfields are unaware of how their research and interpretations are appropriated and applied by others. Submissions to this theme could include the following:
- Representations of Celtic archaeological monuments, folk heroes, and other symbolism in the material culture of nationalist or ethnic revival movements past and present
- Appropriation by political figures, factions, parties etc. of explicitly Celtic symbolism
- References to Celtic cultural patrimony in the context of literary manifestations of nationalism
- Celtic musical traditions and their significance in nationalist movements
- Archaeological evidence and its interpretation in the construction of national identity in the Celtic world
- Nationalism as a positive force in cultural survival
Warfare
According to the various written sources available to us, from the Greek and Roman writers to the mythological corpus of the insular tradition, the Celts were characterized by a “warlike disposition”. Whether the interaction took the form of brawling in the context of a boasting match, service as a mercenary in Asia Minor or a fight to the death against another tribe’s champion in the middle of a ford, armed conflict seems to have been a major part of the Celtic tradition. In more recent times we find Scottish, Irish and Welsh soldiers fighting across Europe, on the seas, and in almost all of the colonial territories of the British Empire. There are many ways in which the topic of Celtic warfare could be addressed by submissions to this issue:
- Military strategies, accounts and analyses of battles, from Alesia to Stirling Bridge
- Major military figures from a biographical and social-historical perspective
- Warfare and its effects on noncombatants in the Celtic world
- Archaeological evidence for Celtic warfare
- Arms, armor and the technology involved in producing the machinery of war
- Evidence for combat and defense and how these changes through time
The Celts in the Iberian Peninsula
This special issue of e-Keltoi will present more than twenty articles by scholars who are recognized as experts in their respective disciplines on the archaeology, folklore, language, religion, music and culture of the Celts in the Iberian Peninsula. Much of this research is recent or on going and most of it has not previously been published in English. Many of the articles will be accompanied by numerous illustrations of the sites, artifacts, folk festivals and landscapes of one of the most intriguing areas of the Celtic world. Articles will appear on-line in the order in which they complete the review and editing process, so check the site frequently.
Cyber Celtic
In recent years, the Internet has rapidly taken on an increasingly important role as a source of information about all aspects of the Celtic world, from on-line translation programs and language tutorials to blogs, chat rooms, gaming communities, self-publishing ventures, virtual congregations of Neo-Pagan and other Celtic-informed emerging religions, genealogical search engines, Websites that serve as vast albums for photographs and other images, and e-journals like this one. There is a growing need for synthetic and critical analyses of these varied sources as they continue to influence tremendous numbers of people, ultimately constituting a kind of parallel and often contradictory venue for knowledge production and dissemination in comparison to the conventional print media. Contributions to this volume could include investigations of any of the topics listed above. The editors welcome suggestions for additional topics.
Religion and Ideology
Religion and ideology are critical components of ancient social structures as well as most contemporary ones, serving to explain the world as well as providing an idealized scheme of behavior. In traditional societies these categories are generally very broad and may encompass other social components, including political and economic systems that are usually viewed as unrelated to religion in many modern cultures. Ritual practices may be organized by a central authority or on a personal level, practiced in the public or domestic realms, involve large-scale performative events or intimate private ones, and may produce material traces or be materially ephemeral.
Book Reviews
In this section you will be able to download various reviews of recent publications in the area of Celtic Studies. We welcome enquiries from publishers, and are always interested in hearing about forthcoming volumes. Contact Reviews Editor Kevin Garstki at kgarstki@uwm.edu if you are interested in reviewing a publication, or have a volume you would like to have reviewed in the journal.