[Commlist] CfP for a thematic section of SComS on "Early Digital Multimedia in Motion"

  Call for Papers for a thematic section of SComS (Studies in
  Communication Sciences)


  Early Digital Multimedia in Motion


    Guest editors : Fred Pailler ((fred.pailler /at/ uni.lu)
    <mailto:(fred.pailler /at/ uni.lu)>), Valérie Schafer
    ((valerie.schafer /at/ uni.lu) <mailto:(valerie.schafer /at/ uni.lu)>), Alina
    Volynskaya ((alina.volynskaya /at/ uni.lu) <mailto:(alina.volynskaya /at/ uni.lu)>)

This thematic section aims to examine the convergence and migration of 
technologies, standards, content, and practices that underpinned the 
digital transition and the emergence of /multimedia/ in the 1980s and 
1990s. The term became a 1990s buzzword, referring at once to the 
convergence of different media formats (audio, video, text, graphics), a 
broad category of “new media” applications (digital encyclopedias, 
virtual museums, interactive games, and art installations), and a 
shifting set of technological affordances (Rockwell & Mactavish, 2004; 
Wise & Steemers, 2000) that defined both the personal computing 
experience and the core development of web and mobile technologies then.

This thematic section proposes revisiting and historicizing the concept 
of multimedia, framing it as a socio-technological and communicative 
configuration rooted in the context of the 1980s and 1990s.

We are first particularly interested in the multiple layers that made 
this configuration possible, from standards (for sound, video, memory 
storage) and hardware (ranging from cables and connectors to early 
multimedia PCs and CD-ROM drives) to services (technical support, 
training programs), middleware and software**(such as DirectX, 
HyperCard, or early authoring tools) and their usages. We also seek to 
understand the interactions between these technologies, the hybrid 
ensembles they formed in the early digital era, and the challenges they 
presented – from compatibility issues to the need for evolving formats 
and user expectations (Chapman, 2009; Savage & Vogel, 2013).

A second key interest lies in the reconfigurations in media and IT 
companies and markets (mergers, partnerships, competition, rivalries 
between hardware manufacturers, software companies and/or content 
producers/studios), the historicization of convergence (Jenkins, 2006; 
O’Sullivan & Fortunati, 2021) but also divergence (and deconvergence, 
see Balbi, 2017) through multimedia reconfigurations. The emergence of 
new jobs, marketing strategies, and targets, as well as changes in the 
professional world (including producers, consumers, and datafication 
practices), are also fully part of this second axis.

Our third key axis is related to users’ experience, design, interfaces, 
early UX experience, as well as the connected discourses, imaginaries, 
and communication surrounding the development of multimedia devices, 
software, and content. While multimedia has generated an enormous body 
of literature, particularly during its heyday in the 1990s, we aim to 
revisit it from a historical perspective, critically reflect on its 
conceptual and technological promises, and analyze how these were shaped 
by and embedded in specific sociotechnical imaginaries. Such a 
perspective also requires attention to the transfer, migration, and 
adaptation of content, to its persistence (Sparviero et al., 2023), in 
some cases, as well as the emergence of new genres and practices enabled 
by media affordances and interactivity (Lyons & Plunkett, 2007).

Finally, papers related to the preservation, heritagization, and 
archaeology of early multimedia, as well as the stakeholders, 
communities, and challenges at stake, would also be very welcome.

The thematic section, therefore, welcomes papers related to early 
digital devices, content, and artifacts, such as floppy disks, CD-ROMs, 
CD-i, Enhanced CD, that may address the following topics:

·*Multimedia as a technological assemblage*: What technologies made 
multimedia possible, and how did they evolve across different 
industries? How did analog and digital systems coexist and interact 
during this transitional period, creating hybrid media environments in 
the 1980s and 1990s?

·*Material Cultures*: How was multimedia represented, communicated, and 
sold through advertising, packaging, guides, discourses, etc.? What were 
the challenges of compatibility, interoperability, and standardization 
that shaped the evolution of multimedia? What are the infrastructural 
tensions? How were established storage, display, and interaction formats 
(e.g., optical media, video codecs, and scripting environments) adapted 
for multimedia applications?

·*Early professionalization*: How did early digital multimedia differ 
from traditional forms of media in terms of production and distribution? 
Who were the key professionals or pioneers in the early development of 
digital multimedia? How did freelance and independent creators navigate 
the early professional landscape of digital multimedia? What were the 
main challenges faced by early digital multimedia professionals? How was 
multimedia adopted in some professional fields (libraries, publishing, 
education, etc.)?

·*Imaginaries and early digital cultures*: How was early multimedia 
framed and represented? What were the discourses surrounding its 
emergence in terms of edutainment, cyberculture, digital revolution, 
future of computing, to name but a few notions?**

·*User practices, experiences and interactivity*: How did the interplay 
between technical affordances and user practices influence the 
development of multimedia, its content and marketing strategies, 
copyright infringements and sometimes piracy?

·*Heritage and archaeology of early multimedia*: What are the 
preservation challenges, the communities and institutions which are part 
of heritagisation, and the memories at stake?

**

*Key dates *

·Abstract submission deadline: 5 October 2025

·Confirmation of acceptance to authors: 15 October 2025

·Full paper submission deadline: 1^st  March 2026

·Rounds of Peer reviews: March to September 2026

·Submission of the final paper no later than: 15 September 2026

*
*

**

*Submissions Guidelines *

SComS welcomes submissions in English, German, French, or Italian. 
However, English and French are the preferred languages of this Thematic 
Section. Abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words in length and should 
explain the main research question(s), scientific literature, 
methodology, and case studies the authors plan to use. Please submit 
your abstract via e-mail to (valerie.schafer /at/ uni.lu).

Manuscripts should be a maximum of 6000 words in length (including the 
abstract and all references, tables, figures, footnotes, and 
appendices). In addition, authors may submit supplementary material that 
will be published as an online supplement. Authors are invited to submit 
original papers that are not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Articles shall be submitted using the APA reference style, 6th edition. 
The manuscript itself must be free of any information or references that 
might reveal the identity of the authors and their institution, allowing 
for double-blind peer review. Manuscripts should be submitted via the 
SComS platform:

https://www.hope.uzh.ch/scoms/about/submissions.

We ask authors to carefully prepare their submissions according to all 
the rules outlined in the SComS Submission Guidelines.

While the expected publication date of the Thematic Section is the end 
of 2026, early submissions that successfully pass the review process 
will also be immediately published online first. Contributions that 
receive positive reviews but are not accepted for the Thematic Section 
may be considered for publication in a subsequent SComS issue within the 
General Section. Papers are published under the Creative Commons license 
CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. Authors retain the copyright and full publishing rights 
without restrictions. No payment from the authors will be required.

*About SCOMS *

Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS) is a peer-reviewed, platinum 
open-access journal dedicated to advancing academic research and debate 
in communication and media research. Focused on building bridges between 
different research cultures, SComS welcomes high-quality original 
articles from various communication-related disciplines. The journal 
publishes research that crosses disciplinary boundaries and encourages 
contributions in English, German, French, and Italian. The journal, 
founded in 2001, is jointly edited by the Swiss Association of 
Communication and Media Research (SACM) and the Faculty of 
Communication, Culture and Society of the Università della Svizzera 
italiana (USI Lugano).

*Reference List *

Balbi, G., Hagedoorn, B., Haydari, N., Schafer, V., & Schwarzenegger, C. 
(2023). Media persistence: Theories, approaches, categorization./Studies 
in Communication Sciences/,/23/(3), 
299–310.https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2023.03.4620 
<https://doi.org/10.24434/j.scoms.2023.03.4620>

Chapman, N. P. (2009). /Digital Multimedia/. Chichester: John Wiley.

Jenkins, H. (2006)./Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media 
Collide/. New York: NYU Press.

Lyons, J., & Plunkett, J. (2007). /Multimedia Histories: From the Magic 
Lantern to the Internet. /Exeter, Devon: University of Exeter Press, 2007.

O’Sullivan, J., & Fortunati, L. (2021). Media Convergence: Expanding 
Perspectives Beyond the Digital. In G. Balbi, N. Ribeiro, V. Schafer, & 
C. Schwarzenegger (Eds.),/Digital Roots: Historicizing Media and 
Communication Concepts of the Digital Age/(pp. 41–58). De Gruyter 
Oldenbourg.

Rockwell, G., & Mactavish, A. (2004). Multimedia. In S. Schreibman, R. 
Siemens, & J. Unsworth. /A Companion to Digital Humanities/, 
(pp.108–20). John Wiley & Sons.

Savage, T. M., & Vogel, K. E. (Eds.) (2013). /An Introduction to Digital 
Multimedia/. Burlington, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Sparviero, S., Peil, C., & Balbi, G. (Eds.) (2017)./Media Convergence 
and Deconvergence/(pp. 31–51). Springer International Publishing.

Wise, R., & Steemers, J. (2000/). Multimedia: A Critical 
Introduction./ London: Routledge.


www.scoms.ch <http://www.scoms.ch/>

ISSN online: 2296-4150

ISSN print: 1424-4896

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