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[ecrea] CFP Media Mutations 3, May 24th-25th, Bologna

Fri Feb 18 14:28:01 GMT 2011



Call for Papers


Media Mutations 3. Narrative ecosystems: environment, tools and models

Bologna, May 24th and 25th, 2011

Dipartimento di Musica e Spettacolo - Università di Bologna


In contemporary media landscape both textual forms and media, conceived not only as technical devices but also as social protocols for their own usage, are dramatically changing. The increasing interest towards cross-media storytelling, narrative franchises, communities and pervasiveness dynamics ­ along with new theoretical perspectives ­ might trigger new models for business and lead to deeper interactions between researchers and creative industries.

In those areas which are adjacent to the scientific field of media studies, such as ICTs and marketing, the notion of ecosystem has gained in the last few years a growing popularity in defining a composite environment able to integrate the energy flows originated by users, technologies and media items. Therefore, the primary aim of this conference is to challenge that notion's relevance, in order to describe the contemporary media environment. The hypothesis behind the conference being that ecosystems (either digital, information, or media) share a narrative-driven core.


Possible topics for proposals include, but are by no means limited to:


* New forms of storytelling: from plot to topical wave. Kevin Kelly stated that ?Information is not as meaningful as connection?: in several areas, for example in journalism, one can see that traditional narrative patterns are gradually declining in favor of the so-called ?topical waves?, that is to say time-lasting waves characterized by the prevalent presence of links and connections, which reshape already existing contents in the light of brand new systems of relationships. Which are the most innovative among these forms of storytelling? Where do they take place within the media industry? How does collective intelligence participate in constructing these narrations?

* Digital ecosystems and cross-media design. As several scholars have pointed out, convergence and cross-mediality push towards the reshaping of informative and narrative designs, in order to achieve tighter connections between digital world and physical experience. How does cross-mediality affect narrative and informative design? In what terms is it necessary to rethink the way experiences of cultural consumption take place?

* New business models for narrative ecosystems. Changes in media scenery have redefined also the practical conditions of existence for content producers, because of the drop of revenues from advertising, that have traditionally played a key role in media business. At the same time, typical dynamics of the gift economies are rediscovered, turning the users/consumers into owners/subscribers, connected through emotional links to the initiatives they back. How can become profitable these relations when based on non-monetary exchanges? What is at stake (in terms of prestige, self-gratification, self construction in terms of simulacrum) for the users participating in these processes? What changes are current models of business supposed to undergo in order to provide users with services and composite ecosystems, instead of traditional commodities?

* Narrative ecosystems, cultural industry and media landscape: social effects, circulation and remediation. The traditional model of the consumer who passively accepts the products provided by the cultural industry belongs, possibly once and for all, to the past. Nevertheless, it would be helpful redefining, according to those issues raised by the notion of ecosystem, also the prosumer model established in the last few years. To what extent is it possible to fit the user's intervention into the categories of content appropriation and manipulation? What operations trigger the user's involvement within the cultural ambiance? In broader terms, what is the role played by users/consumers in transforming the persistent narrative universe?

* Expanding narrative universes: theoretical update, new methodologies and case studies. Innovations regarding both practices and items within the media environment forces scholars to update their analytic tools. The categories most commonly employed in the theoretical and analytical lexicon might be revised, as well as defined at once, leaning on those examples provided by narrative ecosystems. In which way is it possible to challenge notions such as text, context, media, ecosystem, narration?

* Hybridization, contamination, re-use and re-working in narrative ecosystems. According to the well known model proposed by Bolter and Grusin, new media do not entirely replace old media: they rather integrate them by means of what Francesco Casetti defines relocation processes. Hence, is it possible to raise similar hypotheses for narrative forms? Do narrative ecosystems function as connective relays for themes and figures originated in traditional narrations? Moreover, to what extent is it possible to analyze traditional narrative forms, especially the serial ones, in the light of the ecosystem notion? How do remediation/relocation processes affect the concept of intellectual property?


Abstracts of 250-300 words for papers of 20 minutes in length should be submitted via email, along with a CV, to the Conference organiser Veronica Innocenti ((veronica.innocenti /at/ unibo.it)<mailto:(veronica.innocenti /at/ unibo.it)>) by March 15th 2011.

The languages of the conference are English and Italian.

Feedback deadline: March 31st 2011.


Advisory Board: Giovanni Boccia Artieri (Università di Urbino ?Carlo Bo?), Francesco Casetti (Yale University), Enrico Menduni (Università di Roma Tre), Roberta Pearson (Director of Department of Culture, Film and Media ­ University of Nottingham), Guglielmo Pescatore (Università di Bologna).


Confirmed keynote speakers: Roberta Pearson (University of Nottingham), William Uricchio (Massachussets Institute of Technology).



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Nico Carpentier (Phd)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
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European Communication Research and Education Association
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
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