[Commlist] CFP - Cultural Literacies in Transition, Critical Arts Theme issue

*/Critical Arts: South-North Cultural and Media Studies/*

*Call for papers for a special issue on*

**

*/Cultural Literacies in Transition/*

*Guest editor: Kris Rutten*

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**

_Theme_

On-going public and academic debate has focused on the importance of 
knowledge about culture and the arts, what is generally referred to as 
“cultural literacy”. Often the debate focuses on an alleged “lack” of 
such knowledge. Whereas traditional approaches to cultural literacy 
emphasized the importance of a shared national culture, the reading of 
books and the literary canon, in recent years there has been an 
increasing focus on what cultural “literacies” can imply within our 
current globalised, pluralized and media saturated societies. While the 
conception that the arts constitute (Western) High Culture has for a 
long time already been strongly criticized from a broad range of 
perspectives, this idea is still reflected in more traditional 
approaches to the importance and functions of culture and the arts. 
However, contemporary societal transitions raise a number of important 
questions about the specific /content/ of cultural literacies (i.e. what 
is still considered to be relevant and valuable knowledge about culture 
and the arts?), about the potential /functions/ of culture and the arts 
for society (i.e. what is considered to be the societal and educational 
value of knowledge about and engagement with the arts?) and about the 
specific role of cultural /institutions/**today (i.e. how do cultural 
institutions address their roles as mediator and go-between of knowledge 
about the arts?).

This special issue seeks to reframe the discussion about cultural 
literacies from a number of different perspectives. *(1)* The concept of 
literacy itself has been studied as a normative concept, which is 
embedded in specific perspectives on economic progress, political 
democracy, and social, cultural and educational mobility. This has been 
referred to as the so-called “literacy myth” and there has been a 
growing body of research that critically addresses the question of what 
it implies to “become literate” and on whose terms, for example in 
relation to notions such as decolonisation and intersectionality. This 
implies**that if we want to explore cultural literacies as important 
“equipment” for people to navigate the complexities of contemporary 
society, we need to extend its content beyond traditional conceptions of 
culture and the arts so as to be able to include a wider range of 
relevant dimensions. *(2) *What counts as a legitimate argument when 
discussing the value of knowledge about the arts is always related to 
particular perspectives on its societal functions. This implies we need 
a critical examination of the claims that are made within the public 
debate for the “importance” and “value” of culture and the arts for 
society and therefore we also need to focus onthe larger societal 
context in which this debate is taking place.*(3)* If we explore the 
question of how cultural literacies, conceptualised from a critical 
perspective, can be enhanced by focusing on the potential of cultural 
institutions, then this implies we need to focus on the increasingly 
changing and sometimes also contested roles of cultural institutions as 
traditional mediators of culture and the arts.

For this special issue, we therefore seek contributions that explore how 
cultural literacies are currently /defined/, /practiced/, /contested/ 
and /negotiated/ in relation to different contexts by focusing on the 
following discussions:

-What is currently considered to be *valuable knowledge* about culture, 
art and aesthetics? How is this knowledge being challenged and how is it 
redefined? What does this imply for art education and for the curriculum 
in general?

-How are the *societal functions* of culture and the arts framed in the 
public and academic debate? What are the societal and educational values 
that are attributed to knowledge about and engagement with the arts?

-How is the role of *cultural and art institutions* changing as 
traditional mediators of knowledge about culture and the arts? What new 
forms of art mediation are emerging or how can such new forms be 
conceptualized?

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*Submission guidelines:*

Deadline for abstracts: Please send your abstracts of 300 words by 
*August 15th 2019 *to (Kris.Rutten /at/ UGent.be) <mailto:(Kris.Rutten /at/ UGent.be)>.

Notification of selected abstracts by: *September 1^st 2019.*

Deadline for article submission: based on the selection of the abstracts 
full papers will need to be submitted by: *November 30^th 2019*.

Information and instructions for authors: 
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/RCRC

All completed manuscripts MUST be uploaded onto the online manuscript 
portal */Scholar One./*//Go to /Critical Arts /on the//Taylor and 
Francis site. There is an option on the top left pane of the screen that 
says ‘submit’, select this then click ‘submit online’ and follow the 
prompts.

Further inquiries about the special issue: (Kris.Rutten /at/ UGent.be) 
<mailto:(Kris.Rutten /at/ UGent.be)>

Alternatively, contact the /Critical Arts /editorial office at 
(criticalarts /at/ ukzn.ac.za) <mailto:(criticalarts /at/ ukzn.ac.za)>or the 
editor-in-chief, Keyan Tomaselli at (keyant /at/ uj.ac.za) <mailto:(keyant /at/ uj.ac.za)>

//

*/Critical Arts /*prides itself in publishing original, readable, and 
theoretically cutting edge articles. For more information on the history 
and the orientation of the journal, as well as guidelines for authors, 
and legal and editorial procedures, please visit: 
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/rcrcauth.asp

*/Critical Arts /*is now published six times annually and is indexed in 
the International Bibliography of Social Sciences (IBSS) and the ISI 
Social Science Index and Arts & Humanities Citation Index and other indexes.



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