[Commlist] Call for Chapters: 'Projections of Paternity' (Film Studies Book)

Call for Chapters: 'Projections of Paternity: Contemporary cinema and 
fatherhood on-screen'

Projections of Paternity is an edited volume of chapters that focus on 
the representation of fatherhood on-screen within contemporary cinema. 
An intersectional approach can be applied to any potential 
chapters/analysis and include films from all over the world from the 
past decade. There will be reference to a historical context of 
fatherhood on screen in the introduction and this can also be reflected 
on in subsequent chapters depending on the focus and context. The aim of 
the book is to help illustrate how contemporary cinema is contributing 
to the discourse around the idea of fatherhood in the twenty first 
century. The intersection between gender studies, sociology and film 
studies will be a guiding framework for contextualising the topic and 
the hope is that by using contemporary cinema from around the globe as a 
platform, the contributing chapters will provide an vital and diverse 
commentary on the importance of cinema to the conversation.

There is a genuine gap in the market for this research and also an 
urgent need to critically discuss how representations of fatherhood can 
be complex and essential regarding the wider cultural discourse on the 
topic. There is surprisingly very little academic work surrounding the 
issue of fatherhood and cinematic representation. Hannah Hamad’s 2004 
book Postfeminism and Paternity in Contemporary US Film and her 
insightful chapter in the 2013 book, Postfeminism and Contemporary 
Hollywood Cinema are both vital contributions to the wider discourse but 
do focus purely on Hollywood at a certain point in time. Astrom and 
Bergnehr’s 2021 edited volume Single Parents also offers some valuable 
perspectives. C.M.Dole’s chapter focuses specifically on single fathers 
with daughters on-screen, but this is once again in a purely American 
context. Katie Barnett’s Fathers On Film: Paternity and Masculinity in 
1990s Hollywood is also an important addition to the discussion but 
places its focus purely on American cinema. Michal Legan’s 2025 paper 
‘Film as a medium for communicating models of fatherhood: Selected 
examples’ is a more up to date example of existing research. In this, we 
have an examination of not only the part that cinema plays in 
‘confronting’ the role and experience of contemporary fatherhood but 
also examines global film from the twenty first century with its 
selected case studies.
Possible topics may include but are not limited to:

•	Progressive representations of fatherhood
•	Problematic representations of fatherhood
•	Single parents on-screen
•	Global representations of fatherhood on-screen
•	Mental illness, representation and fatherhood on-screen
•	LGBTQ+, representation and fatherhood on-screen
•	Ethnicity, representation and fatherhood on-screen
•	Class, representation and fatherhood on-screen
•	Genre and fatherhood on-screen

Routledge have expressed a serious interest in publishing the book and 
are awaiting a formal proposal once it has a clearer structure and focus.

Please send an abstract of the proposed chapter at 300 words, and a 
brief bio of 150 words to Dan Finnemore ((ad7568 /at/ coventry.ac.uk)) no later 
than 8th May 2026. Feedback will be provided shortly thereafter, with 
draft submissions due in February 2027. Upon acceptance of your CfC 
response, please also consider IP factors such as copyright in advance 
of completing a form from the publishers to secure publication rights 
for your work and any images, tables and artwork provided therein.

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