*CFP* "POST-CONFLICT CULTURES IN ASIA", MAJOR VOLUME, THE STUDIES IN POST-CONFLICT CULTURES SERIES

Critical, Cultural and Communications Press (London) announces the publication in early 2023 of a major volume focusing on post-conflict cultures in Asia.

The Studies in Post-Conflict Cultures series, which was inaugurated in 2006, has to this date published ten anthologies and three monographs exploring the cultural consequences of conflict across the globe. This is an ongoing series, originating in an Anglo-Italian Leverhulme-funded project, examining the specifically cultural aftermath of periods of national or international conflict, understood as war, civil war, dictatorship, terrorism, revolution, colonialism or persecution. 

No chronological or disciplinary boundaries are applied. Studies may be historical or contemporary, and may fall within any subject field. The ten volumes so far published have brought together international experts from disciplines as diverse as Political Science, History, Law, Media Studies, Cultural Studies, Critical Theory, Semiotics, Geography, Film Studies, Anthropology and Literature Studies. CCC Press intends to publish a major volume of papers on post-conflict cultures in Asia in the first half of 2023. 

*CFP* "ESPORTS IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC", PALGRAVE SERIES IN ASIA AND PACIFIC STUDIES VOLUME

Over the last two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has been central to the growth and development of esports. The establishment in 2000 of the Korean Esports Association placed competitive gaming within a government ministry at a time when it was still a niche hobby in other parts of the world (Jin, 2010). Three years later, the Chinese government also recognized esports, making it the country's 99th official sport, and broadcasting esports documentaries and tournaments on state-owned television stations (Lu, 2016).

Today, the region remains a major esports site, with Jakarta hosting an exhibition esports tournament as part of the 2018 Asian games (Etchells, 2018), and Hangzhou set to host the first medalling esports Olympic event as part of the 2022 Asian games (The 19th Asian Games, 2021).

Asia is also a huge esports market. It is the fastest growing esports sector in the world and in 2019 it “generated nearly half of total global esports revenue at $519 million” (Niko Partners, 2020). The size of the Asian population plays a key role in both the number of spectators and the number of esports athletes from the region: “According to Juniper, 50% of the over 1 billion esports and games viewers in 2025 will be from the Asia Pacific region” (Campe, 2021).

*CFP* "A LICENSE TO HATE: ANTI-ASIAN PREJUDICE IN DIGITAL COMMUNICATION", 3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE PANEL

A License to Hate: Anti-Asian Prejudice in Digital Communication

University of South Florida

3rd International Conference: Approaches to Digital Discourse Analysis (ADDA3)

St. Petersburg, FL, USA: May 13-15, 2022

 

 

As reported, racism and anti-Chinese sentiments increased significantly after the start of the pandemic and have been directly linked to it (Vachuska, 2020). Disturbingly, over ¾ of Chinese Americans polled about their experiences reported being victim of at least 1 incident of COVID-19 racial discrimination online and/or in person, and over half perceived health-related Sinophobia in America and media-perpetuated Sinophobia (Cheah et al., 2020). Verbal and physical attacks on Asian Americans have been linked to racism and xenophobia deeply entrenched in the US society, and to the “us vs. them” worldview relegating Asian Americans to the bottom of the social hierarchy (Gover, Harper & Langton, 2020). Such feelings have been at least partly caused or exacerbated by the inflammatory rhetoric by the US politicians (Wu, 2020), and there has been evidence of ex-president Trump’s tweets to cause an uptick in anti-Asian verbal aggression on Twitter (Ziems et al., 2020). Researchers have analyzed the victims’ narratives (Satoh & Hata 2021) and even identified counter-discourses employing linguistic creativity to oppose hate (Zhu, 2020).

*CFP* "MEDIA AND THE 'NEW NORMAL'", SPECIAL ISSUE, MEDIA ASIA JOURNAL

If you’re researching the "new normal," perhaps the normal thing to do is to consider Media Asia.

The peer reviewed journal is published by the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) and Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Established in 1974, it focuses on studies and practices in journalism, advertising, public relations, entertainment and other aspects of media in Asia.

Manuscripts should analyze issues related to the media’s role in the “new normal” in Asia. These are some topics worth exploring:

• “New normal” in the context of media studies (e.g., increasing role of the Internet, changing broadcast landscape, relevance of print) 
• Work-from-home arrangements of journalists and media workers 
• Changes in media production and distribution 
• Evolving media consumption 
• Marketing trends and the rise of e-commerce 

*CFP* "ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND THE HUMAN. CROSS-CULTURAL PERSPECTIVES ON SCIENCE AND FICTION", A JAPANESE-GERMAN CONFERENCE & EDITED VOLUME

Artificial intelligence and the human 

Cross-cultural perspectives on science and fiction

A Japanese-German conference in Berlin, Germany

12 and 13 May 2022

& Edited volume (2023)

 

Current debates on artificial intelligence often conflate the realities of AI technologies with the fictional renditions of what they might one day become. They are said to be able to learn, make autonomous decisions or process information much faster than humans, which raises hopes and fears alike. What if these useful technologies will one day develop their own intentions that run contrary to those of humans?

*CFP* "DIFUSIÓN SOCIAL DE NOTICIAS: PLATAFORMAS, PÚBLICOS Y DIMENSIONES DE NEWS SHARING", NÚMERO ESPECIAL (ABRIL 2022), REVISTA COMUNICACIÓN Y SOCIEDAD

Internet, las redes sociales y los dispositivos móviles han impulsado el papel activo del público en la difusión, el consumo y la interpretación de los medios. Los públicos ya no son simples receptores finales de un mensaje, sino que actúan como nodos en una red en la que seleccionan, moldean y difunden noticias y otros contenidos mediáticos.  Este nuevo contexto desafía la influencia de los medios de masas y hace que sea vital entender el modo en el que la audiencia comparte y distribuye noticias entre sus contactos.

Este número especial aborda cuestiones que han sido relativamente poco estudiadas, así como la búsqueda de hipótesis contrarias a la intuición que podrían poner en tela de juicio paradigmas establecidos y ampliamente aceptados en la investigación sobre news sharing, como las cámaras de eco, los discursos de incitación al odio, el social news gap o el papel de los líderes de opinión. Si bien la mayor parte de la investigación sobre redes sociales se ha centrado en Twitter, algunos estudios han puesto de relieve que el público comparte y comenta cada vez con más frecuencia las noticias en entornos más privados y de menor tamaño, como los servicios de mensajería instantánea (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.), los grupos   de Facebook y otros espacios digitales privados o semiprivados.  Además, existe un vacío en la literatura científica en cuanto al aspecto visual de la difusión social de noticias. Se ha de tener en cuenta el peso cada vez mayor de lo audiovisual en la cultura digital contemporánea y el énfasis en los contenidos gráficos en las redes sociales para entender el fenómeno del news sharing. Asimismo, los trabajos sobre difusión social de noticias han tendido a centrarse fundamentalmente en la información política, a menudo relacionados con preocupaciones sobre la vida democrática, la confianza en los medios de comunicación o la desinformación.  Las pautas y rutinas de intercambio de información económica, científica o sobre salud han sido menos exploradas.

*CFP* “DIPLOMACIA PÚBLICA: NARRATIVAS ESTRATÉGICAS PARA UN MUNDO EN CAMBIO", NÚMERO ESPECIAL, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY JOURNAL

El estudio de la diplomacia pública es resultado de la inexorable vinculación que existe entre las relaciones internacionales y la comunicación global. Estados Unidos, Rusia, China, Turquía, Brasil o la propia Unión Europea compiten por posicionarse en el orden mundial, la proyección de valores y la legitimidad de la acción exterior. Tras una edad dorada de la diplomacia pública (1990-2010), la propaganda, la injerencia en los procesos electorales y la desinstitucionalización de la práctica diplomática han afectado el modo de conducir la acción exterior. La sobreexposición presidencial, los tuits (en nuestra opinión, el tuit es la unidad de medida, pero podemos escribir “las redes sociales”, que es más amplio) y el lenguaje de las emociones son argumentos de peso en la construcción de la agenda de relaciones internacionales por encima de los acuerdos multilaterales. La comunicación de los gobiernos, el saber diplomático, la reconstrucción del proyecto político europeo, los valores del liderazgo chino o el legado del trumpismo han modificado el manejo de la diplomacia. De origen norteamericano y con eco europeo, la diplomacia pública hoy aparece entre las prioridades de gobiernos, ciudades, instituciones internacionales y actores privados, que aspiran a vertebrar la comunicación, la representación ciudadana y el reconocimiento internacional. Por este motivo, es pertinente revisar los avances en la disciplina de modo que se construya un mejor corpus teórico acorde con la realidad de la globalización post-covid. El cambio climático, las migraciones, la salud pública global, la perspectiva de género o la gestión de la memoria constituyen nuevas fuentes de valor para la comunicación internacional de los países y los actores globales.

*CFP* "SOUTH KOREAN WOMEN'S CINEMA", ONLINE CONFERENCE

South Korean Women’s Cinema

Online conference 23-25 September 2021

Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom)

Funded by The Academy of Korean Studies

 

While the profile and popularity of Korean cinema abroad has peaked with the success of multi-Oscar award-winning film Parasite (Bong Joon-ho, 2019), women’s cinema and women filmmakers’ wide-ranging contribution to Korean cinema have been consistently overlooked by film audiences and academics alike. Such neglect is evident in a dearth of English-language sources on women filmmakers in the Korean film studies scholarship. As the first major English-language conference focused solely on Korean women’s cinema, the conference aims first of all to celebrate Korean women filmmakers (from pioneers to new generation) and contributions they have made in the history of Korean cinema. The event also intends to provide a site that enables the feminist film scholars to explore a range of topics and issues that include what it means to do women’s cinema in Korea and the relationship between activism and cinema, as well as addressing gender equality, LGBTQ+ rights, and the #MeToo Movement within the Korean film industry and wider fields. In addition, the conference seeks to illuminate the current status of women’s cinema and to envisage future trends.

*CFP* "DIFUSIÓN SOCIAL DE NOTICIAS: PLATAFORMAS, PÚBLICOS Y DIMENSIONES DE NEWS SHARING", NÚMERO ESPECIAL ABRIL 2022, COMMUNICATION & SOCIETY JOURNAL

Internet, las redes sociales y los dispositivos móviles han impulsado el papel activo del público en la difusión, el consumo y la interpretación de los medios. Los públicos ya no son simples receptores finales de un mensaje, sino que actúan como nodos en una red en la que seleccionan, moldean y difunden noticias y otros contenidos mediáticos. Este nuevo contexto desafía la influencia de los medios de masas y hace que sea vital entender el modo en el que la audiencia comparte y distribuye noticias entre sus contactos.

Este número especial aborda cuestiones que han sido relativamente poco estudiadas, así como la búsqueda de hipótesis contrarias a la intuición que podrían poner en tela de juicio paradigmas establecidos y ampliamente aceptados en la investigación sobre mes sharing, como las cámaras de eco, los discursos de incitación al odio, el social news gap o el papel de los líderes de opinión. Si bien la mayor parte de la investigación sobre redes sociales se ha centrado en Twitter, algunos estudios han puesto de relieve que el público comparte y comenta cada vez con más frecuencia las noticias en entornos más privados y de menor tamaño, como los servicios de mensajería instantánea (WhatsApp, Telegram, etc.), los grupos de Facebook y otros espacios digitales privados o semiprivados. 

*CFP* "PLATFORMISATION AND ENTREPRENEURIAL LABOUR VIA CHINESE DIGITAL NETWORKS", SPECIAL ISSUE, GLOBAL MEDIA AND CHINA JOURNAL

This special issue, “Platformisation and entrepreneurial labour via Chinese digital networks,” examines entrepreneurial labour and its relationship with the platformisation of Chinese society and economy. As a key feature of our digital economy and lifestyle, powerful digital platforms have transformed how cultural production is carried forward, how services are delivered, how businesses are established, how talents are identified and developed, and how new forms of entrepreneurial activities are regulated and governed. While platformisation has technological, infrastructural, and economic dimensions, its human dimension highlights individual agency and limitations in the platformisation process. We call for papers that examine individuals and groups who have demonstrated the entrepreneurial spirit, skills, and thinking in taking advantage of Chinese digital networks, systems and platforms to reinvent themselves, change lives, and influence others and society.

The entrepreneurial individuals and groups include: new media professionals (e.g. wanghong and self-media content producers); platform managers, engineers, and programmers; e-commerce and social commerce operators, agents, and co-ops; product and service brokers, intermediaries, and consultants; government officials and agencies in managing digital and social media platforms, networks, and R&D.

*CFP* "ESPORTS IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC", PALGRAVE SERIES IN ASIA AND PACIFIC STUDIES VOLUME

Over the last two decades, the Asia-Pacific region has been central to the growth and development of esports. The establishment in 2000 of the Korean Esports Association placed competitive gaming within a government ministry at a time when it was still a niche hobby in other parts of the world (Jin, 2010). Three years later, the Chinese government also recognized esports, making it the country's 99th official sport, and broadcasting esports documentaries and tournaments on state-owned television stations (Lu, 2016).

Today, the region remains a major esports site, with Jakarta hosting an exhibition esports tournament as part of the 2018 Asian games (Etchells, 2018), and Hangzhou set to host the first medalling esports Olympic event as part of the 2022 Asian games (The 19th Asian Games, 2021).

Asia is also a huge esports market. It is the fastest growing esports sector in the world and in 2019 it “generated nearly half of total global esports revenue at $519 million” (Niko Partners, 2020). The size of the Asian population plays a key role in both the number of spectators and the number of esports athletes from the region: “According to Juniper, 50% of the over 1 billion esports and games viewers in 2025 will be from the Asia Pacific region” (Campe, 2021).

*CFP* "DECOLONISING FILM AND SCREEN STUDIES", EDITED VOLUME

The Screen Worlds project is delighted to announce a call for submissions to contribute to the broad range of research and resources on our website. This call builds on our belief that the decolonising of Film and Screen Studies is necessarily a collective task.

As Robert Stam powerfully noted in Film Theory: An Introduction (2000), film’s historical relationship with imperialism, colonialism and racism has been the least researched area in Film and Screen Studies. This is in spite of the fact that the film medium, since its invention in the late 1800s, was powered by White patriarchal privilege and racist representations of Africans, Asians, indigenous communities and, in particular, Black people – and which are still evident today in films and filmmaking practices. The discipline of Film and Screen Studies also remains mostly Eurocentric in its historical, theoretical and critical frameworks, despite important, ongoing critiques by Third Cinema, Black and other film scholars, and despite the attempts of world cinema and transnational cinema scholars to “expand” the field. This call is based on our conviction that a re-envisioning of our field is thus necessary.

We invite submissions that approach the topic of “decolonizing film” through a diverse range of perspectives, angles, and forms (films, audiovisual essays, reflective essays, interviews, toolkits/syllabi and academic articles – see below for further information). We are particularly interested in approaches that:

*CFP* "WORLD CINEMA IN THE AGE OF NETFLIX", SPECIAL ISSUE, STUDIES IN WORLD CINEMA JOURNAL

Over the course of less than a decade, the streaming phenomenon – that is, the online distribution of audiovisual content (mainly films and series) through pay-per-view or subscription services – has radically changed cinema’s ecosystem. This issue of Studies in World Cinema sets out to explore the specific effects of streaming on the production, distribution and consumption of primarily non-Western cinema. The focus is not on the American streaming giant Netflix as such – Netflix is rather used as a generic nomer or shorthand for international streaming services at large. Yet, there is no denying that Netflix is indeed of particular interest for its blurring of boundaries within the usual local/global dialectics, as pointed out by Ramon Lobato in his book Netflix Nations: The Geography of Digital Distribution (2019).

Netflix is currently available in practically all countries around the globe (China being the most notable exception), and although the bulk of its films are mainstream US entertainment fare, Netflix is also keenly aware that when it comes to programming for an international audience, one size does not fit all. Across the world, the company is therefore supplementing its catalogue of American programmes with both licensed local content and original local films that are either commissioned by Netflix or, in one way or the other, produced or funded by the streaming giant.

*CFP* "EAST ASIAN FILM REMAKES", BOOK CHAPTER

As the editors of a proposed addition to Edinburgh University Press’ newly launched “Screen Serialities” series, we are seeking abstracts for chapters that explore East Asian film remakes.

Over the past three decades, the subject of cinematic remakes has emerged as a major subdiscipline in film studies, giving rise to a host of critical, philosophical, and theoretical approaches that highlight the historical significance of iterative storytelling within and across different national contexts. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of Daniel Herbert, Kathleen Loock, Claire Perkins, Constantine Verevis, and other scholars who are drawn to the remake’s contradictory appeals and intertextual complexities, this long-disparaged category of filmmaking — once brushed off by critics as little more than a derivative copy or pale imitation of an original text — is now recognized as a legitimate cultural form in its own right, one that aesthetically reframes the distant or recent past while providing a paradoxically nostalgic vantage on modern-day issues. Indeed, with so many published studies of remakes currently available, it would seem that very little remains to be said about a topic that is already brimming with taxonomies and terminology unique to this most “bankable” and pervasive type of cultural production.

*CFP* "INTERNATIONALISATION INTERRUPTED: JAPAN ON THE GLOBAL STAGE, THE ROLE OF THE 2020 OLYMPICS, AND THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC", RESEARCH WORKSHOP (HYBRID EVENT)

Internationalisation Interrupted: Japan on the Global Stage, the Role of the 2020 Olympics, and the Impact of the Covid-19 Pandemic

Research Workshop

Thursday 1st – Friday 2nd July

Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, Norwich, UK 

(hybrid in-person and online)

 

The Centre for Japanese Studies at the University of East Anglia and the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures invite scholars to submit papers for a special two-day workshop event to discuss the global role of Japan in relation to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. The Olympics has historically provided an opportunity for hosting nations to showcase cultural and political strengths as well as their unity within the international community. However, Japan’s model of globalisation has been seen as more inward-looking and seeks to enhance a certain self-image rather than global ties (e.g. Iwabuchi 2015). Following this, Tokyo 2020 presents an ideal opportunity to discuss how Japan’s global role and ambitions have developed in the contemporary era.

*CFP* "WRECK AND RUIN: THE CAR CHASE ON FILM", EDITED COLLECTION

Though a staple of the modern action genre, the car chase has attracted very little academic study. From its origins in the silent movie era to the breakneck chaos of the 1970s to its contemporary reliance on digital effects, the car chase is a quintessential cinematic sequence. Often the centerpiece of action films, car chases unify narrative, style, and spectacle to maximize the impact of the drama on spectators. 

 

And yet, despite their ubiquity, outstanding questions remain: What are the origins of the car chase, and how did it come to dominate the action genre? What stylistic changes have taken place over time in the way filmmakers execute these sequences on screen? What general trends in cinema history led to their saturation? How have filmmakers adapted to new technologies when designing, shooting, and editing car chases? What role do car chases play in defining visions of gender on screen? Are car chases pure spectacle, or can they be something more? The proposed volume intends to explore these questions and more, all with a defining goal: to explicate an important feature of cinema that has gone un-attended.

*CFP* "FILM STUDIES IN NORTHEAST, SOUTHEAST ASIA AND EAST ASIA", SPECIAL ISSUE, THE RISING ASIA JOURNAL

The Rising Asia Journal invites academic articles on Film Studies focusing on the North East of India, South East Asia, China, the Koreas, Taiwan, and Japan within the following fields: History, Literature, Postcolonial Studies, Literary Theory, Film Ttheory, Culture, Cultural Studies, and International Relations and War & Society.

The papers must provide a new perspective and a fresh interpretation. They must be original, supported with scholarly research, and the must not have been published or under consideration for publication in any media in print or online.

Authors should submit Abstracts of 250 to 300 words along with the details of the author(s), (title, affiliation/position(s), address, and e-mail. The Journal is currently accepting Abstracts, and this Call for Papers is open until September 30, 2020.

*CFP* IV PREMIO ALBERTO ELENA DE INVESTIGACIÓN SOBRE CINES PERIFÉRICOS

El grupo de investigación TECMERIN (Televisión y Cine: Memoria Representación e Industria) de la Universidad Carlos III de Madrid y Secuencias. Revista de Historia del Cine de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid convocan el IV PREMIO ALBERTO ELENA DE INVESTIGACIÓN SOBRE CINES PERIFÉRICOS. Esta cuarta convocatoria continúa con la vocación de premiar el trabajo en castellano en torno al concepto de "cines periféricos" y, en general, a una hipotética periferia audiovisual, con la intención de animar así la que fuera una de las líneas principales en el trabajo como investigador del profesor Alberto Elena.

Si bien la convocatoria está abierta a toda propuesta de investigación relacionada con un área geopolítica periférica o del Sur (como prefirió referirse a estas áreas de producción y consumo cinematográfico Alberto Elena en sus más recientes trabajos) y cualquier tipo de propuesta audiovisual, el título de este premio pone en valor la idea de cierta producción audiovisual obviada de manera sistemática por determinadas corrientes historiográficas. Aunque superada la terminología inicial (sea cine del Tercer Mundo, sea Cine Periférico), lo cierto es que la idea de "cine periférico" rescató para la investigación audiovisual en castellano toda un área geopolítica aún pendiente de ser integrada plenamente en la historiografía mundial.

*CFP* "MEDIA BUILDING: ARCHITECTURE, COMMUNICATIONS AND THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT", VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

Media Building: Architecture, Communications and the Built Environment

Virtual Conference, 7-10 July 2021

Hosted by the University of Salford and Northumbria University

 

Since the emergence of the first newspapers, the relationship between place and content has been central to the media’s development. The spatial politics of media production could fundamentally shape its reception and circulation. If ‘the medium is the message’, then this applied equally to where media artefacts were created as to what was contained within them. Publishers quickly understood that, from both a commercial and philosophical perspective, landmark headquarters or publishing plants could help enforce the legitimacy and significance of their enterprises. Thus, structures such as the striking neo-gothic spires of the Chicago Tribune tower or the sleek art-deco exteriors of the Daily Express building in London offered compelling expressions of media power, modernity, and the aesthetics of mass communication, providing what Aurora Wallace describes as a “definable shape…a hook on which to hang some news about the media itself.” At the same time, media buildings became key nodes in the urban geography of communications, complementing editorial efforts to make and remake the modern metropolis.

*CFP* "MEDICAL CULTURE IN EAST ASIAN CINEMA AND MEDIA", EDITED VOLUME

The current COVID-19 global pandemic has inspired renewed attention to the intersection between public health and mass media. With constant media updates of case counts, healthcare guidelines, and preventive strategies, among other public health communications, the boundaries of various imagined communities have been newly established or strongly reinforced. The complex cultural and geopolitical region of East Asia, in particular, has become a center of media attention, following wide circulation of essentialized cultural norms (such as collectivity and uniformity), stereotypical accounts of hygiene habits, racialized discourses surrounding the East Asian bodies, and techno-orientalist narratives of East Asian use of digital means for disease tracing and control. 

Both personal and public health outcomes thus have become inextricably intertwined with processes of representation and (re)mediation, while the pandemic itself has become a media event inseparable from various audiovisual forms. We are therefore living a historical moment that demands reflection on the precarious socio-political structures revealed through audiovisual media, including health care access and its relation to class, gender, and ethnic hierarchies.