[Commlist] Call for Papers: 'Ludomythologies: the Creation, Circulation & Transformation of Imaginaries in Games'

Call for Papers: Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural 
StudiesIssue 17.2


Special Issue: 'Ludomythologies: the Creation, Circulation & 
Transformation of Imaginaries in Games'


View the full call here>>

https://www.intellectbooks.com/catalan-journal-of-communication-cultural-studies#call-for-papers 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/catalan-journal-of-communication-cultural-studies#call-for-papers>


28 April 2025: deadline for full articles

Guest Editors:

Dra. Ana Beatriz Pérez Zapata (Fundación TecnoCampus - Universidad 
Pompeu Fabra)

Dr. Alberto Murcia Carbonell (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid)

Dr. Mateo Terrasa Torres (Universidad Católica de Valencia)

The concept of myth, as located at the intersection between universal 
permanence and historical transformation, constitutes an extremely 
complex epistemological terrain. Far from being reduced to simple 
narratives or false beliefs, myths are configured as a dynamic system of 
meaning that operates in multiple temporal and cultural dimensions.

Two key conceptualisations of myths, regarded as transcendent or 
immanent phenomena, are relevant for their study in contemporary 
narratives. On the one hand, Mircea Eliade's (1999) perspective presents 
an understanding of transcendent myths as a modality that goes beyond 
historical time and thus connects the present with a primordial origin 
(in illo tempore). This conception sees myth as an archetypal structure 
that remains unchanged, regardless of its contextual manifestations. 
Authors such as Kerényi and Jung (2004) delve into this vision that 
understands myth as a repository of universal meanings that reverberate 
beyond their specific spatiotemporal coordinates and that take on 
specific forms “in the present” (Planells de la Maza et al., 2023). 
Following this framework, a mythologem is understood as a universal 
question, a myth as a story that connects the human with the 
transcendental, and mythemes as irreducible narrative units that contain 
a symbolic essence (Lévi-Strauss, 1955; Losada, 2022).

On the other hand, Roland Barthes's (1999) perspective introduces a 
radically different approach through the concept of immanent myths. Such 
myths are for Barthes the result of an ephemeral, individual, and social 
process of deformation of reality. This conceptualization highlights the 
relative nature of myth and ties it to the specific social and 
historical consciousness of each moment in its form of myth “of the 
present” (Planells de la Maza et al. 2023). Unlike the transcendent 
perspective, immanent myths are marked by their contingent and 
contextual character, the social production of meaning, the constant 
transformation of collective imaginaries, and a permanent negotiation 
that seeks the exploration of the world (Coupe 1997).

Without prejudice to this theoretical distinction between transcendent 
myths "in the present" and immanent myth "of the present", the truth is 
that myth reveals itself as a fundamental epistemological device to 
understand processes of cultural significance. Neither completely 
universal nor totally contingent, it represents a system of 
interpretation that allows societies to permanently negotiate their 
collective imaginaries. Therefore, its true theoretical richness lies 
precisely in the dynamic tension between the transcendent and the 
immanent, between archetypal structures and their permanent historical 
reconfiguration.

In video games, myth occupies a central role in its relationship with 
ritual (Huizinga, 1938; Turner 1977, Horrigan 2021), the game as a 
textual object (Salen & Zimmerman 2003, Cole & Barker 2020) and the game 
as an activity (Suits 1978, Sicart 2014). Under conceptualizations such 
as “mythgame” (Garin 2009), “mytholudics” (Ford 2022) or ludomythologies 
(Planells de la Maza et al. 2023), the academic production from Game 
Studies is still scarce, although some approaches stand out, such as 
those focused on mythopoeia (Cragoe 2015, Rone 2020), the regeneration 
of ludomythic structures (Farca et al., 2020), the link with literature 
(Todor 2010), the mythical representation in commercial games (Galanina 
and Salin, 2016, Galanina and Baturin 2020) or the remediation of 
transcendent myths (Cassar 2013, Guyker 2016) and immanent myths (Yoon 
2021) in the field of digital entertainment.

Therefore, this Call for Papers aims to explore and analyze in depth the 
complex relationships between the concept of myth and the multiple 
perspectives of play and games in order to understand how they 
intertwine in different cultural, social and symbolic contexts.


TOPICS

This volume devoted to mythology and games invites researchers from 
transversal disciplines (such as Game Studies, Narratology, 
Anthropology, and, in general, those within the Humanities and Social 
Sciences studying relevant aspects of myth) to submit their studies on 
the matter. Their research may deal with international, regional, 
national, or local scopes.

Researchers are invited to submit full articles and viewpoint articles 
on topics that may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  *

    Classical myths in games and video games: processes of ludic
    remediation and

  *

    Contemporary myths in games and video games: processes of ludic

  *

    Non-European mythologies in contemporary games and video

  *

    Universal plots, narrative motifs, and narratological aspects of
    games and video

  *

    Mythic temporalities and spaces as frameworks for videoludic

  *

    Heroic archetypes and social stereotypes in games and video

  *

    Comparative studies between mythic structures in other media
    (literature, film, T.V.) and games.

  *

    Player communities and processes of negotiation with collective
    imaginaries and/or ideological frameworks pertaining games and video
    games.

  *

    Industrial and creative practices linked to the narrative design of
    collective

Research articles should be around 7,000 words in length, while 
Viewpoint articles should not exceed 3,000 words (including notes and 
references).


PUBLICATION SCHEDULE:

28 April 2025: deadline for full articles

Full articles should be submitted on the Catalan Journal of 
Communication & Cultural Studiesweb platform 
<https://submission.pubkit.co/publisher/29/journal/379/login>by 28 April 
2025, following the Author Guidelines 
<https://www.intellectbooks.com/asset/2243/house-style-guide-6th-edition.pdf>.

11 July 2025: final decision letters

Fall 2025: issue published

All selected contributions will be subjected to double blind peer 
review, except for the Viewpoint articles, which will be evaluated by 
the Editors.


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