83. Shapeshifting Creatures

This panel is seeking papers on the figure of the selkie and other shapeshifting mythological creatures. In Gaelic lore, the selkie is emblematic of desire and sadness. Theirs is a story of loss and yearning for their watery home; trapped on domesticated land and within their human skin, they epitomise the hope of transformation and the seeking of female autonomy in the wild. But selkies are also vengeful and often violent, with a fury that complicates the image of an all-giving and nurturing mother Earth. Such seal creatures speak to the figure of the other, our relationship with the non-human and our fascination with hybridity through the body. The selkie has, like many mythological beings from indigenous cosmologies, been redeployed in recent years to rethink our relationship with the environment and its inhabitants in the age of the Anthropocene. Supported by theories of posthumanism and the rise of the more-than-human, such shapeshifting creatures are now transgressive and political, both wrath and sorrow.

This panel seeks to explore both the historic and the contemporary represents of the selkie and other shapeshifters across visual culture, as a source of inspiration, debate and reimagination of how we live in the world. What can we learn when we take these tales seriously and as more than mere metaphor? How does the mythical translate into the contemporary moment? This panel is particularly keen to receive proposals from creative practitioners, feminist and queer theorists, and those whose work and research is inter or cross-disciplinary.

Themes:  Anthropocene, myth, non-human

Lead Convenor: Elizabeth A. Hodson, The Glasgow School of Art, Scotland

To submit a Paper to this Session, please follow the guidance on our website and complete the AAH 2027 Call for Papers Proposal Submission Form.