Dear Colleagues,

In recent decades, we have seen a memoir boom, with a demand for “authentic” stories, as well as a growing public debate around transnational adoption. Many adult adopted persons are engaged in debates about children’s rights and the possible end of international adoption. Common outlets for adoptee experiences are the memoirs written by adopted persons in which they tell their side of the story of international adoption; other examples include documentary films, essays, short stories, poems, and online fora. Search narratives are a fundamental component of adoption life narratives, and in the case of transnational adoption, this usually includes a return journey to the country of birth. Adoption life narratives may be read in the light of human rights discourses, and several transnational adoptees are activists themselves, who, in their work, address the practice of closed adoptions; adoptions carried out under the pretense of orphanhood; rigid norms of gender and sexuality, as well as global economic inequality.

This Special Issue invites essays on the topic of “Transnational/transracial adoption in life narratives.” We seek contributions from scholars from a range of fields that include, but are not limited to, literature, film studies, sociology, cultural studies, history, and anthropology. What previously silenced voices are articulated in contemporary life narratives of transnational and/or transracial adoption, and what alternative histories of the late 20th and early 21st century do they offer? What is the relationship between the private life narrative and public debate? What interventions have adoption life narratives made, or what might be their effect on adoption policies? What role does form play for adoption life narratives?

The representation of the search for kinship also provides fertile ground for explorations of how adoption narratives challenge dominant norms of heterosexual reproduction and biological family ties; relationships within the adoption triangle; the role of gender in the global patterns of domination of which transnational adoption is a part; and the extent to which adoption life narratives address the end of transnational adoption, topics that have emerged in recent scholarly and public debate. This Special Issue aims to include papers addressing these and other topical questions within the growing field of adoption studies.

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 400–600 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send it to the Genealogy editorial office (genealogy@mdpi.com). Abstracts will be reviewed by the Guest Editors for the purposes of ensuring proper fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-blind peer-review.

Tentative completion schedule:

• Abstract submission deadline: 1 February 2023
• Notification of abstract acceptance: 1 March 2023
• Full manuscript deadline: 1 August 2023

Dr. Lena Ahlin
Dr. Maria Freij
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Genealogy is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• transnational and/or transracial adoption and its related topics
• life narratives
• identity, alienation, otherness
• kinship
• search narratives
• closed adoptions
• gender roles
• multiculturalism
• challenges to the heteronormative family
• activism
• global systems of inequality
• memoirs and multimodality