[ecrea] CFP: TV Genres in the Age of Abundance

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Call for Papers:

Television Genres in the Age of Abundance



Comunicazioni Sociali - Journal of Media, Performing Arts and Cultural
Studies

Issue III 2015


The arrival of digital technologies was supposed to spell the end of the
line for television, the most dominant medium of the last half of the
twentieth century. However, the opposite has happened -- there is more
television than ever before and, as Toby Miller recently put it, "people
like it more than ever". As a result, many people have rushed to
characterize what has become of the medium.

This special issue of Communicazioni Sociali is devoted to making sense
of how television genres have changed and adapted in an era where more
television is more abundant than ever.

There are those, such as Jason Mittell, who claim that we are living in
an age of "complex TV" that is characterized by considerable innovation
in narrative styles of dramatic television series. However, this
reflects a small -- albeit important -- portion of the total amount of
television available across a range of channels. Such developments are
part of the constant back-and-forth between media industries estimations
of what their audiences expect and desire from particular television
genres and the economic opportunities that arise from them. Others note
the narrative possibilities that have been created due to television's
incredible mobility, available on different technological platforms from
3D televisions mounted on the wall to cell phones and tablets. Services
like Netflix provide new opportunities for accessing television
programming, like House of Cards, while at the same time capturing
audience information that allows them to determine future productions as
well as to organize its existing catalogue in categories such as “Goofy
Comedies”. Governments have increasingly become active in the television
business, with channels like RT and France 24 as examples of networks
producing programming that mimics the style and content of commercial
all-news networks. Although there is greater emphasis on our ability to
record and replay television programming according to personal
preferences, the live event -- especially sports -- remains a key
component in the economics and aesthetics of television.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

-Genre versus series, or episodes, or season as an object for television
analysis

-Genre and the study of television industries

-Genre and the construction of celebrity within television

-Making sense of “mixed” genres, (eg: “dramedies”, ‘Biopics”)

-The “Netflix” effect and the creation of “micro-genres”

-Theoretical approaches to the study of television genres

-Continuities and discontinuities in TV genres;

-Case studies of specific, contemporary genres: news, soap operas,
talent and variety shows, reality programming, drama, sitcoms, satire,
documentary, awards programs, sports

-Television networks built around generic styles (all-news, cartoons,
food, travel, lifestyle)

-Gender and the discursive construction of genres as “masculine” or
“feminine”.

-Genre, sound, and television style

-Mainstream and marginalized genres of television within different
national or regional contexts

-Genre and transmedial and/or intermedial storytelling

-Genres and production styles within “algorithmic culture”

-Genres, distribution and scheduling

-The role of paratextual and promotional material in the construction of
generic identity

-The legal and regulatory framework around genre production

-Seriality and the consumption of television genres

-Television criticism as a genre





Deadlines & Guidelines

Please send your abstract to both the editors Massimo Scaglioni
(massimo.scaglioni@unicatt) and Ira Wagman ((ira.wagman /at/ carleton.ca) ) by
January 31, 2015. All notifications of acceptance will be emailed no
later than February 15, 2015. Abstracts must be from 300 to 400 words
long, and may be presented in English or French. The proposal shall
include: 5 key words, authors, institution, and contacts (email),
together with a short curriculum for each author.

If the proposal is accepted, the Author/s will be asked to send the
whole article by May 1st 2015. Contributions will be sent to two
independent reviewers in a double-blind procedure prior to publication
decision. Articles should be of between 4,000-5,000 words in length (no
more than 35,000 characters, spaces and notes included), but shorter
articles will be considered.



***

Massimo Scaglioni

Ricercatore in Storia dei media



Dipartimento di Scienze della Comunicazione e dello Spettacolo,
Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore

via sant'Agnese, 2 - 20123 Milano

+39 02 7234 2872



Ce.R.T.A. - Centro di Ricerca sulla Televisione e gli Audiovisivi

via San Vittore, 45 - 20123 Milano

+39 02 7234 8583



(massimo.scaglioni /at/ unicatt.it)



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