[ecrea] ICA Preconference "Audiences?"

Audiences? The familiar unknown of communication historiography
Deadline for Abstracts: 30.11.16


ICA Preconference San Diego, USA, May 25, 2017
Sponsor: ICA Communication History Division

Co-Sponsors:
ECREA Communication History Section, IAMCR History Section, DGPuK
Communication History Section

Organizers: Christian Schwarzenegger, Thomas Birkner, Kevin Grieves and
Samantha Oliver

Keynote Speakers: Sabina Mihelj and Sonia Livingstone

Media consumers have largely remained in the shadows of communication 
history research. Methodological hurdles abound, and the relevance of 
this type of research to the broader field of communication scholarship 
has not always been clearly articulated. These challenges present an 
opportunity to advance the conversation on audiences, and to chart new 
directions for communication research. This ICA preconference is 
dedicated to bringing together scholars from across the spectrum of 
communication research and from around the globe to illuminate the 
history of audiences, media practices and media use. Submissions are 
invited to consider the full breadth of intellectual engagement with 
audiences, media users and media practices in the past. This scope 
includes examination of the historical interaction between audiences and 
various media technologies. It also includes the historical engagement 
of audiences with various types of journalistic sources and content as 
well as the connections of different audiences with one other in various 
social and public contexts of the past. Submissions that address 
audience history from transnational and/or de-Westernized perspectives 
are especially encouraged. We welcome papers on a wide array of 
historically grounded themes that shed light on the current state of 
historical research on audiences and media practices as well as 
potential directions for future research:

(1) Audiences as they were then and are remembered now

Case studies on past media and communication practices from a variety of 
perspectives are invited to shed light on current knowledge about past 
audiences. These can range from exceptional audiences in extraordinary 
circumstances (e.g. clandestine practices of media use in totalitarian 
regimes or during war times) as well as mundane and everyday practices 
of media users in the past. Nostalgic memory reveals how we imagine past 
media audiences, and to what extent those audiences appear different 
from today. The inter- and transgenerational exchange of media memories 
and the designated role of media technologies in family life can also 
help us understand past patterns and logics of media use.

We also welcome studies that emphasize the changing role of audiences in 
different situations: Audience as civic public and its role in public 
debate, audiences of journalism in contrast with audiences of 
entertainment as well as the history of media use between collective and 
individual practices in private or in public (e.g. while on the move in 
public transport or in the family home). This includes not only mass 
media but also the history of means of communication and technological 
devices (e.g. the temporal liberation of audience experiences by the 
video recorder).

(2) Historical ideas of the audience in popular and public debate

Historical understandings of media audiences are not only shaped by 
academic knowledge but also by public debate and representations in 
popular culture. Examining the regulation of and protection of audience 
members’ media activities helps in the understanding of past conceptions 
of audiences as well as implicit ideas of media effects. The perceived 
impact of technological developments on audiences by politicians, 
regulators and social pressure groups is also an area of interest for 
the preconference. This includes critical and journalistic notions of 
media audiences and associated fears (such as the notorious campaigns of 
newspaper editors against the perils of radio or television). How media 
users are depicted in a wide variety of popular culture formats makes 
ideas of audiences visible, especially in regard to stereotypes. How do 
depictions and characterizations of readers, listeners or viewers vary 
depending on the media they use? We are interested in popular and public 
ideas of the audience and their interplay with academic concepts and 
their influence on research (e.g. in terms of funding).

(3) Histories of audience research: Schools of thought, theoretical
implications and change over time

We are interested in past developments within audience research and 
their intellectual implications as well as their legacy for audience 
research today. Papers are invited that probe or reconstruct shifting 
understandings of the nature of audiences in relation to different 
schools of thought. What epistemological shifts are to be observed in
how audiences were implicitly and explicitly addressed in different 
areas, subfields and traditions of the field? For example, papers could 
ask if the audience in social science- oriented effects research is the 
same as in television studies, which were strongly influenced by British 
media studies and cultural studies. Differences between the role of 
audiences in transmission or ritual models of communication or the 
differentiation of audiences and civic publics and their implications 
for research are just a few further examples.

The field is characterized by changing ideas of audiences as rather 
passive, homogeneous and highly influenced by strong media effects as 
well as highly selective and active, participating, heterogeneous 
audiences and minimal-effect media. Temporal aspects of media use have 
also fluctuated over time. New media technologies have impacted the 
practices and roles of media users throughout history; how can 
conceptions of audiences be adapted accordingly? Are conceptions of 
audiences fit for research on media practices in new media environments?

(4) Methods and sources for researching historical audiences

Most of the methodological approaches of contemporary audience or 
reception research are not applicable for historical audiences or can 
grasp past media practices only in limited ways. Historical audience 
data may lack texture about the specific quality and meaning of media 
engagement. Historical audience researchers thus often have to resort to 
indirect methods and to reconstruct from obscure, scarce and incomplete 
source material. Papers are invited that make use of diverse original 
sources for historical audience research and discuss their value and 
potential pitfalls. How might the shift toward big data and digitization 
enhance our understanding of audiences of the past? Is the digital media 
user more accessible for historical reconstruction?

Methodologies specifically designed to reconstruct media practices of 
the past are also relevant. Oral history can be considered an invaluable 
method for historical audience research, with the caveat that this 
method is reconstructing shaped ideas and understandings of the meaning 
of media uses from the contemporary. Although often idealizing memories 
or highlighting the extraordinary while neglecting the mundane, the 
approach to personal media memories can help us to understand the
discursive formation of media audiences. Submissions are invited that 
employ oral history or that reflect innovative uses of other historical 
methodologies to understand past media practices.

The composition and the practices, roles and possible actions of 
audiences change over time and in different cultural or geographical 
spaces. Media-centric perspectives on past media practices may neglect 
the contextual dimensions of communicative practices. Thus papers are 
also invited that help to reconstruct past media practices as embedded 
in everyday life and the daily routines of audience members in various 
cultures and geographies.

Abstracts of 300 words (maximum) should be submitted no later than 30 
November 2016. Proposals for full panels are also welcome: these should 
include a 250-word abstract for each individual presentation, and a 
200-word rationale for the panel. Send abstracts to:
(christian.schwarzenegger /at/ phil.uni-augsburg.de) 
<mailto:(christian.schwarzenegger /at/ phil.uni-augsburg.de)>

Authors will be informed regarding acceptance/rejection for the 
preconference no later than 11 January 2017. Full papers will need to be 
submitted no later than 1 May 2017 as these will be posted online and 
made available to all those participating in the preconference. Early 
career scholars and graduate students are highly encouraged to submit 
their work. Please indicate if the research submitted is part of your 
thesis or dissertation project. The organizers will aim to arrange for 
discussants to provide an intensive response for graduate students projects.


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