*CFP* "REFLECTIONS AND REVERSALS. SYMBIOSIS BETWEEN POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND AUDIOVISUAL FICTION", III INTERNACIONAL SYMPOSIUM OF POLITICAL COMMUNICATION

 Reflections and reverslas. Symbiosis between political communication and audiovisual fiction

III International Symposium of Political Communication

Faculty of Philology and Communication

University of Barcelona

December 2-3, 2021

Even though audiovisual fiction is usually studied within cultural bounds (Trenzado Romero, 2000), it also presents an important political dimension taking into account that representations play a large role “when it comes to determining which social reality is to be constructed; that is, which figures and forms will prevail in the process of modelling life and social institutions” (Ryan and Kellner, 1988: 13). The spectacularisation of politics is inspired, partly, by the processes of fictionalisation and, at the same time, spheres such as the cinema or scenarios characteristic of serialised fiction are also a reflection of that reality (Rodríguez and Padilla, 2018). In turn, fiction can be a pretext of understanding so as to find the significance of knowledge and to try to bring it closer to a framework of reality (Oliveros Aya, 2010). However, beyond being a call and a reminder of certain events or political phenomena, fiction can also represent reality “by means of a different type of evidence and therefore it can offer a different and more complete approach to realism” (Whitebrook, 1991: 5). It can be said that, as a significant part of mass culture, audiovisual fiction contributes decisively to the formation, debate, inspiration and interpretation of a variety of political imaginaries.

The transversal and eminently public character that is associated with political activity means that it has been the constant focus of fictional ‘re-creations’. These, to a greater or lesser degree of fidelity to ‘the real’, reproduce the communicative dynamics that rule governmental action, the fight for power, electoral contests, relationships with the media, ceremonies and rituals of institutional communication, etc., and they contribute, in this way, in generating (or reinforcing) the public opinion’s perception of politics as an activity. III International Symposium of Political Communication Reflections and Reversals. Symbiosis between Political Communication and Audiovisual Fiction, organised within the framework of activities of the “Gup d’Anàlisi Multidisciplinària del Discurs i de la Comunicació Política” (GAMDCP), sets out to deal with the representation(s) that political communication has (have) developed in the sphere of audiovisual fiction (cinema, series, among others) in order to identify synergy connecting artistic creation, social reality and public stereotypes.

The objective is to detect, chart and evaluate analytically the whole dense framework of hidden messages, connexions, correspondences, etc. that have been unfolding in relation to the different contexts and agents between the sphere of political communication and audiovisual fiction. In this sense, welcome contributions are those that aim to investigate, in analytic terms and rigorous reflections, whatsoever refers to permeability, imbrication, or any kind of complicity, exchange and/or synergy which have taken form over the passage of time between the two-word statement which constitutes the title of this Symposium.

After evaluation, proposals dealing with themes relating to the following areas of investigation will be accepted.

• Geopolitical codes of imaginaries enriched by audiovisual fiction. 
• PolCom//professions in audiovisual fiction and their representation. 
• The presence and treatment of history in political fiction. 
• Representations of power: archetypes, models and narrative. 
• Storytelling/: /narrative and discursive strategies in political fiction and fictional politics. 
• Iconographic, iconological and mise en scène correlation between political communication and audiovisual fiction. 
• Media, genre and formats: new hybridisation between political communication and audiovisual fiction. 

The deadline for submitting proposals is October 15 2021. Papers will be accepted in Catalan, Spanish or English. The document must include: name and surname of the communicator, title of the paper, email address, academic institution of origin, a brief curriculum vitae and a summary of the paper (a minimum of 150 words, a maximum of 300) for evaluation and later publication in the programme of the Symposium.

Contact address: simposio.intl.com.politica@ub.edu.