Emotionally charged depictions of death play an important role in much
contemporary media directed toward teen and young adult audiences. Across
creative works as diverse as interactive digital games, graphic novels, short
form serial narratives, television and films, young people gain opportunities
to engage with representations of death that position the deceased as a
multi-dimensional person whose loss is tragic and demands to be mourned. In
some cases, such as the Netflix show 13 Reasons Why, and the major motion
picture Me Before You, representations of death, dying, and the decision to end
one’s own life have been subject to public outcry and criticism. Such responses
relate not only to the content of the work, but also to its perceived potential
impact on impressionable audiences. Death in/as entertainment is often
fleeting, commonplace and recurrent making it trivial, or illusory when it is
shown to be reversible or transformational, particularly in the context of
games culture, where the death of a playable character is ubiquitous, illusory,
and often carries little consequence.
While such depictions are commonplace, the popularity of young adult
fiction which engages with terminal illness, murder, suicide, and the deaths of
siblings, parents, and friends suggests that there is market, both economically
and socially, for deeper stories and representations of mortality and grief.
Measured portrayals of the social and psychological impact of dying and loss
are potentially highly influential for younger audiences preoccupied with self
and identity, acquiring interpersonal maturity and formulating their
relationship with the external world.
Belk and Corr (2009) state that
adolescence is often characterised as a “healthy time of life, one in which its
members have escaped the problems of early childhood but have not lived long
enough to face the problems of adulthood” (xxi). Yet the paradox of adolescence
is evident by the significant leap in morbidity and mortality rates from late
childhood that are not explained by cancers, heart disease or infections but
instead the result of “accidents, suicide, homicide, depression, alcohol and
substance abuse, violence, reckless behaviours, eating disorders, and health
problems related to risky sexual behaviours” (Dahl, 2004, p. 3). Despite the
reality of mortality in the lives of adolescents globally, through issues
related to war, addiction, violence, and illness, realistic representations of
death and grief directed toward adolescents are often met with adult disquiet.
For example, some Australian schools emailed parents with concerns about the
impact of viewing 13 Reasons Why, implying that the act of viewing this
representation could lead to a kind of contagion.
This is an open call for contributions to a special edition exploring
the moral and representational issues associated with engaging teens and young
adults with popular media depictions of death and dying. We ask for original
analysis, theory and research focused on works or creative products that are
attributable to individual or corporate authors. We encourage submissions that
are able to give consideration to the types of engagement made possible through
different mediums and the ways in which they might distinctively capture or
arouse intense thoughts and feelings on the end and loss of a human life. We
particularly encourage contributions that explore new methods of articulating
or portraying death and dying.
As an example, interactive storytelling projects (e.g. Bad News) seek to
build meaningful interactive experiences that allow players to interact
creatively from within dramatic situations. Yet, by the same token ubiquitous
distribution platforms such as YouTube have been used to good effect to share
audio-visual works constructed by people who are themselves dying.
This special edition seeks work that engages with ‘audience age’ as a
significant factor influencing both the tone of representations and/or the
critical and public response to emotive depictions of death. Is death
represented differently in creative works marked toward the young? Do new
platforms or modes of production provide new opportunities for innovative
representations of death, or do they feature work that reiterate existing
tropes? How do representations, and the critical responses to representations,
differ where the dead or dying person depicted is a teen or a young adult?
Perhaps most importantly, what do representations of death and dying reveal
about the concerns of youth and youth culture, or apprehensions of adult
culture more generally?
Potential subjects may include but are not limited to:
- Historical change in depictions of death and dying directed towards youthful audiences
- The impact of audience age on critical responses toward media depicting death
- The techniques used to encourage audiences to connect with the dead, dying, or grieving
- The impact of the ideal of the ‘good death’ in representations
- Journaling or documenting dying online, on film, or in other creative ways
- The use of suicide as a plot device
We are seeking abstract proposals for articles that will be between
6,000 and 8,000 words (inclusive of abstract, tables, references, figures,
footnotes and endnotes). To be considered for the Special Edition, please email
an abstract (no longer than 500 words) along with author(s) names,
institutional affiliations, contact details and brief bio (200-250 words) to
gareth.schott@waikato.ac.nz by 2nd of April, 2020. Please indicate Mortality
Special Edition in email subject line.
Key Dates:
Abstract (Proposal) – 2 April, 2020
Notification of Acceptance – May, 2020
Article Submission – 31 July, 2020
Final Manuscripts – December, 2020
Publication – March 2021
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