*IMAGEing Reality: Representing the Real in
Cinema, Television and New Media*
School of Communication
Universidad de Navarra
Pamplona, Spain
22-24 October 2009
**
Contemporary society finds itself increasingly shaped and conditioned by
the audiovisual media, from the traditional ones, such as the cinema and
television, to the newer platforms (computers, mobile phones, mp4,
etc.), as well as by its growing reliance on the Internet as a content
supplier. Our screens are fed with images and sounds registered by
ever-more ubiquitous cameras: professional products for the traditional
screens now compete with amateur and domestic images, or with the
anonymous world of the omnipresent security cameras. At the same time,
the effectiveness and popularity of ?metaverses? such as Second Life are
imposing the idea of a virtual, alternative reality. An audiovisual
world is being formed, therefore, that is beginning to show the
appropriateness of Borges?s famous metaphor of the map whose scale
coincides with that of the real world it represents; an idea that
Baudrillard formalized in the concept of the simulacrum. These metaphors
inevitably carry us to the contemporary debate on the consistency and
reliability of audiovisual representation, and to the question as to
whether images support and extend our knowledge of the world, or whether
they act more and more as a simulacrum that anesthetizes our senses.
Against this backdrop, an interesting tension can be observed between an
increasing distrust of the true character of audiovisual representation,
and the idea?strongly rooted in our popular culture? which is expressed
in the phrase that ?the image never lies?. In spite of the revolution
introduced by digital technologies, we continue to rely on the
audiovisual ?document??in the form of news, documentaries, home
videos?and we continue to be captivated by the ?realism? of the
representation of human interactions and conflicts that cinema and
television offer us, both in the classic modes of fiction and
non-fiction and in newer formats such as reality TV.
The XXIV International Conference of the School of Communication of the
University of Navarre aims to create a forum for reflection and debate
on these issues, building on the understanding of the historical and
theoretical contexts developed during the last century, while also
exploring the present and future configurations of our audiovisual
societies.
Topics for consideration could include, but are not restricted to:
- From Bazin to Baudrillard. Theoretical approaches to the nature of
reality in audiovisual representation.
- Technological mediation. The impact of the consolidation of the
digital media on the debate about the indexical nature of the image.
- From live broadcasts to reality television. The consequences of the
growth of the rhetoric of live broadcasting in contemporary audiovisual
culture, from /cinéma vérité/ and direct cinema to the reality show format.
- Documentary as a site of collision between the theoretical proposals
of deconstructionism and its traditional vocation as social witness.
- Realism in fiction film. Engagements with the diverse proposals of
?realistic cinema,? in its historical, rhetorical, narrative and
aesthetic dimensions.
- Audiovisual creation on the frontiers. The hybridization of styles and
modes?fiction, documentary, experimental?and their new proposals for the
representation of the real.
Papers can be presented in English or Spanish. The Conference will
provide simultaneous
translation to both languages.
*Deadline for proposals*: Friday 5 June 2009.
Proposals must be addressed to Efrén Cuevas ((ecuevas /at/ unav.es)
<mailto:(ecuevas /at/ unav.es)>), and include:
- a 300 word abstract
- a brief list of bibliographic references related to the proposal
- a brief curriculum vitae
Final notification of acceptance will follow in the first week of July.
*Conference Organizers*
Efrén Cuevas. Universidad de Navarra ((ecuevas /at/ unav.es))
Alberto N. García. Universidad de Navarra ((albgarcia /at/ unav.es))
*Advisory Board *
Josep María Catalá (Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona)
John Corner (University of Leeds)
Arild Fetveit (University of Copenhagen)
Richard Kilborn (University of Stirling)
Roger Odin (Université Sorbonne Nouvelle)
Àngel Quintana (Universitat de Girona)
Laura Rascaroli (University College Cork)
*Conference Web Page*: www.unav.es/fcom/cicom/oct09/en/index.htm
