First Anniversary of the Research Group “Literatures and Religions: Interconnected Narratives”
This month marks one year anniversary of the CCLA research group “Literatures and Religions:
Interconnected Narratives.” The group was conceived as a continuation of the discussion on sacred
texts and their impact on literature and culture in the panel “Connecting les êtres” at the CCLA
conference at Université de Montréal in June 2024. The research group was intended to provide a
space to continue similar academic discussions and to build collaborations among scholars with
shared interests.
The launch of this initiative in November 2024 proved successful in bringing together a diverse
group of scholars from around the world. Currently, the group includes participants from North
America, South America, Europe, Middle East, Africa, and South Asia who work on the
intersections of various religious traditions, mythologies, and literatures in English, French,
Spanish, Italian, Ukrainian, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, Yiddish, Farsi, and Hindi, among others.
Our current program includes three key projects:
- Monthly online meetings to discuss topics related to the scope of interests of our group.
- Conference panels within the annual CCLA meetings.
- Collective publications to be proposed in the future.
The group meetings occur monthly via Zoom. At each meeting, we have an informal discussion
of a group participant’s current research, such as the presenter’s ideas for their upcoming
conference papers or publications (or a dissertation chapter for graduate students). It’s an
opportunity to test your ideas, get feedback, ask questions, and think together. We hosted the
first online meeting of the group in November 2024 and continue these seminars monthly since
then (except June for the CCLA annual meeting and a summer break in August). Please see
below the list of our past seminars: - December 2024: Shlomo Gleibman (Humanities, York University), “A Queer Genealogy
of Havruta: Study Partnership as Intimate Relationship Between Men in
Jewish Literature.” - January 2025: Luigi De Angelis (Comparative Literature, Western University), “Hesed
and Passion: Gabriela Mistral’s Poetic Retelling of the Book of Ruth.” - February 2025: Lisa Viviani (Comparative Literature, Western University), “Beauty and
the Bad Boy: ‘James Dean Daydream’ Lovers in American and Italian Adolescent
Fiction.” - March 2025: Maria Ruggero (Comparative Literature, University of Bari Aldo Moro,
Italy), “Melusina: The Myth of Femininity and Religion.” - April 2025: Olga Stein (English, York University), “Religious Conversion and Creative
(Self-) Reinterpretation in Lyudmila Ulitskaya’s Daniel Stein, Translator.” - May 2025: Khedidja Chergui (Department of English, L’Ecole Normale Supérieure de
Bouzaréah, Algiers), “On Love Jihad in Contemporary Indian Literature.” - July 2025: Ivan Pavlii (Dallas International University), “Interfaith-Based Study of
Contemporary Arab Literature.” - September 2025: Laurence Sylvain (President of ACLC/CCLA), “De profundis clamavi,”
a chapter from the project on Simone Weil. - October 2025: Luigi De Angelis Soriano (Huron University at Western University),
“Women’s Bonds and Chance Encounters: An Analogical Reading of the Book of Ruth
and Joshua Marston’s Film Maria Full of Grace” (published in Journal of Religion &
Film). - November 2025: Ivan Pavlii (Dallas International University), “Chicago by Alaa Al-
Aswany,” second part of the interfaith-based study of contemporary Arabic literature.
In December, we welcome everyone to join Shlomo Gleibman for a discussion of a short story
“Minyan” by David Bezmozgis, a Toronto-based writer, which is part of Shlomo’s forthcoming
article “Writing Canadian Judaism through Queer Loss and Migration” in Canadian Jewish
Studies. This presentation will focus on the literature of Canadian Jewish immigrant writers from
the former Soviet Union.
We also participate in the annual CCLA meetings. In June 2025, the research group organized
two panels at the CCLA conference at Trent University in Peterborough: “Reimagining the
Sacred: Reception of Religious Themes in Poetry, Life Narratives, and Films” and “Crossing
Boundaries: Intersections Between Religion, Fiction, and Literary Theory.” Currently, we are
developing a panel proposal for the CCLA conference scheduled for June 2026 at McGill
University in Montreal.
The research group’s mission is critical inquiry into the intersections of diverse literatures,
cultures, religions, and spiritualities, such as the presence of religious and spiritual themes and
motifs in literary fiction, memoirs, film, visual arts, performance, and music. This approach is
important because of the cultural, social, and political effects that religious traditions still have in
contemporary world. The comparative approach that characterizes the CCLA provides us with an
excellent platform to discuss these ideas and foster connections between scholars representing a
rich variety of theoretical approaches and personal backgrounds. Possible topics for exploration
and further discussion include (but not limited to): - intersections of religions and texts (broadly defined)
- interfaith perspectives of religion and culture
- religions and literatures in the 21st century: social, cultural, and political implications
- intertextuality and intermediality in religions and literatures
- feminist, postcolonial, and queer approaches to religious and literary traditions
If you are interested in participating in this research group, please contact Dr. Luigi De Angelis
Soriano at luigi.deangelis@huron.uwo.ca and Dr. Shlomo Gleibman at shlomog@gmail.com.
