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[ecrea] The Italian noir: CFP special issue of JICMS

Mon Jan 08 22:10:43 GMT 2018





*   The Italian /noir/*

**

*Call for Papers*

**

*Guest-edited issue of /the/ /Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies/*

*//*

*Editors: Marco Paoli, University of Liverpool and Barbra Pezzotti, Monash University*

The term /film noir/ was coined by French critics during the 1940s, to describe a particular type of crime fiction. At the start, it was associated with an American cinematic movement addressing questions of social and political morality, the morality of power and the place of the individual in relation to an increasingly oppressive state. However, the originality and the salient characteristics of this type of Hollywood fiction were perceived more clearly from a distance, in Europe, than they were in America itself. Indeed, the fact that the concept of /film noir /was first named in Europe and its representatives given serious critical attention there, suggests that it had a special relevance to the European context.

In her contribution to /European Film Noir/ (ed. by Andrew Spicer, 2007), Mary Wood claims that the Italian difficulty with the concept of /noir /is mainly due to the predominance of the term /giallo/ (a special guest-edited issue, Vol. 5:2, of the /JICMS/ on Italian /giallo//horror cinema, was published in March 2017) and to a critical tradition which privileged realism and serious themes as marks of artistic quality at the expense of popular visual/media manifestations and their attempts to engage with criminal narratives, events and environments. However, as some critics (including Mary Wood 2007 and 2016, Dennis Broe 2014, Orio Caldiron 1999 and Fabio Giovannini 2000) have recently demonstrated, across Italian cinematic genres (/filoni/) and time the presence of /noir /elements (mainly drew from American and French cinema) can be detected in several films and in other media and artefacts including TV series, comics, graphic novels and radio productions. Stylistically, the characteristics of Italian /noir/ include: intense lighting contrast (/chiaroscuro/), dark atmosphere, visual/aural disorder and disturbing asymmetry, and visual/aural, narrative, kinetic and performative excess. Thematically, Italian /noir/ typically explores Italian societal and/or political context aiming at provoking anxiety, disturbance and disruption.

This guest-edited issue of the /JICMS/ aims to examine the concept of /noir/ in the Italian visual and media context. Areas of study may include (but are not limited to) the following:

-       Definitions and/or critical and theoretical approaches related to the concept of /noir /(i.e. trauma theory, gender theory, reception theory and cognitive theory)

-       Transnational /noir/: influence of indigenous sources (i.e. Italian painting and photography) as well as international ones (i.e. American /noir/, French /noir/ and German expressionism) on Italian Visual and Media manifestations of /noir/

- /noir/ as an expression of popular culture

- /noir/ and crime fiction

- /noir/ and censorship

- /noir/ and visual excess as a form of exploitation

- /noir/ neorealism (neorealismo nero)

- political /noir/

- Italian film /noir/ in the silent era

- /noir/ and the concept of genre

- /noir/ and (post-)studio production practices (including posters and other promotional visual and/or media tactics etc.)

- /noir/ and film style techniques including lighting, cinematography, sound, music, acting and performance

- /noir/ and women

- /noir/ and masculinity

- /noir/ and gender identity/representation

- /noir/ and the nature of subjectivity

- /noir/ and migration

- /noir/ and Blaxploitation

- /noir/ and fashion and design

- /noir/ and space (i.e. the figure of the city, architecture…)

- /noir /in other media and artefacts including radio, TV series, comics and graphic novels

- /noir/ and the digital era

- /noir/ and audiences

Abstracts and subsequent articles submitted for this guest-edited issue of the /JICMS/ should be entirely original and unpublished, should not be under consideration by any other publisher, and should not have been published previously even in part by any other publication. Plagiarism and self-plagiarism will result in an automatic rejection of the submitted article.

Please send the following information to both guest-editors Marco Paoli and Barbara Pezzotti at (m.paoli /at/ liverpool.ac.uk) <mailto:(m.paoli /at/ liverpool.ac.uk)> and (barbara.pezzotti /at/ monash.edu) <mailto:(barbara.pezzotti /at/ monash.edu)> by 12 February 2018.

a) clear title

b) 500-word abstract outlining:

-  the topic

-  critical approach

-  theoretical bases of the proposed article.

The abstract should clearly state the goals of the article, and provide a cohesive description of the objective of the argument. In addition to a 500-word abstract, authors should send:

1)Relevant bibliography and filmography

2)A 200-word biographical note followed by a detailed list of their academic publications and institutional contact details

3)Indicate the anticipated date of submission of the article if the proposal is accepted. This date should be within 8 weeks from the official invitation to submit the article.

Proposals that do not include the above information will be sent back to the authors.

The guest-editors will review abstracts, provide feedback on whether submissions fit the aims and scope of the journal, and offer suggestions on how to improve the proposed topic. If an abstract is accepted, the guest-editors will invite the author to submit the full-length article.

The abstract, and later the article, should avoid a literary approach rooted in a Humanities-centred model of inquiry. /JICMS/ represents an outlet for scholars engaged in the history, theory and criticism of film and media practices in Italy. The journal intends to foster critical analysis in the artistic features, production processes and technologies of film- and media-specific areas. Therefore the abstract, and subsequent article, should avoid treating a film as the narrative of a novel. Instead, authors should engage in a cinematic text analysis where the points discussed about films are supported by technical references to the effect of the following aesthetic features: a) the use of the camera (distance, framing, angles, movement); b) montage, /mise-en-scène/ (lighting, costume, scenic context); and c) music/sound.

Authors should avoid approaching films, themes or directors in a merely descriptive manner. They are expected to engage in in-depth analytical and interpretative work, formulate original perspectives and bring new critical insights. Their analysis should not be based on a preponderance of secondary sources nor be highly derivative of the scholarship referenced, but it should instead make a significant and innovative contribution to the pre-existing research and literature in the field.

Authors should also avoid submitting abstracts and articles that deal with only one film or are close readings of a character’s psychological process. /JICMS /seeks more comprehensive topics and treatments. Authors, however, should limit the scope of their discussion to 2 or 4 films and few directors. For more information please see the Aims and Scope of the journal on the website.

Submitted articles will go through a rigorous double-blind peer review process.

For more information please see the Aims and Scope of the journal on the website: http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals../view-Journal,id=215/view,page=2/


Contributions should follow the Intellect Editorial Guidelines. All articles should be written in Microsoft Word 2010 and submitted as an email attachment. The article - including the endnotes, quotations, appendices, bibliography, etc. - should be double-spaced Times New Roman 12 point and size 100% (please do not send enlarged texts), should not exceed the 8,000 word limit. Pdf documents will not be accepted.




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