[Commlist] CFP: Visualizing Jihad: Western Representations of Jihadism in Cinema and Visual Culture (1989-2019)

Visualizing Jihad: Western Representations of Jihadism in Cinema and 
Visual Culture (1989-2019)
Special issue of Cinergie (https://cinergie.unibo.it/ 
<https://cinergie.unibo.it/>)
Edited by Alessandra Goggio (University of Bergamo) and Giuseppe 
Previtali (University of Bergamo)

 From the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989 to the death of 
the Islamic State's self-proclaimed caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, in 
2019, jihadism occupied a central and often obsessive place in global 
geopolitics and the Western imagination. Over the course of these three 
decades, the figure of the jihadist has become one of the most recurring 
and recognizable representations of otherness, danger, and political 
violence in visual and media products. Long before and after 9/11, 
cinema, television, comics, graphic novels, video games, photography, 
digital media, and contemporary art have shaped, circulated, and 
transformed representations of jihadism in various cultural contexts.

As a complex cultural phenomenon, jihadism has generated an extensive 
body of interdisciplinary scholarship, including work from political 
scientists, security studies experts, historians, and cultural and media 
scholars. Similarly, scholars of film and visual culture have produced 
significant analyses of how jihadism and the War on Terror have been 
represented in cinema, television, digital media, and popular culture. 
This body of works often highlight the political significance of these 
representations. However, most of these analyses focus on specific 
events, media texts, or historical moments, particularly those 
surrounding 9/11 and IS's rise to prominence in 2014. Conversely, 
relatively little attention has been devoted to understanding these 
representations within a longer historical trajectory. Adopting a 
diachronic and transmedial perspective, this special issue investigates 
how Western visual cultures have reimagined jihadism over three decades. 
This investigation reveals recurring tropes, narrative frameworks, and 
figures of alterity that shape public understanding of political 
violence, religion, and global conflict. Rather than focusing 
exclusively on the post-9/11 period, this issue aims to contextualize 
the emergence and evolution of these representations within a broader 
temporal framework. It will highlight the continuities, ruptures, and 
shifts across various media ecosystems.

The issue will focus on the transmedial circulation of narratives, 
stereotypes, visual tropes, and political imaginaries across cinema, 
television, digital platforms, gaming cultures, comics, and contemporary 
artistic practices. Contributions grounded in film and media studies, 
visual culture, cultural studies, postcolonial studies, memory studies, 
game studies, comics studies, and related disciplines are welcome.

Topics may include, but are not limited to:
• Representations of jihadism in cinema, from Hollywood productions to 
documentary;
• Television series and streaming productions dealing with jihadism and 
counterterrorism;
• Jihadism in video games and interactive media; Military simulations, 
gamification, and other digital representations of terrorism;
• Comics, graphic novels, and graphic journalism addressing jihadism;
• Contemporary art, video art, and artistic engagements with jihadist 
violence;
• Photography, photojournalism, and visual archives of the War on Terror;
• The evolution of the jihadist figure in Western imaginary before and 
after 9/11;
• Narratives of radicalization and de-radicalization;
• The emergence of surveillance and security narratives;
• Gender, sexuality, and representations of jihadist militancy;
• Orientalism, neo-Orientalism, and the construction of the Muslim 
enemy; postcolonial perspectives on terrorism and representation;
• Transnational and comparative approaches to representations of jihadism;
• Transmedia circulation of jihadist imaginaries across different media 
forms;
• Aesthetic and ethical issues in representing terrorism and political 
violence.

This special issue is part of the outputs of the research project 
JAVISar - Jihadism Archives. Visual and Intermedia Strategies Against 
Radicalization, funded by the Italian Ministry of University (MIM) 
within the FIS3 - Starting Grant funding scheme. CUP: F53C25001220001

Submission Guidelines
Authors are invited to submit an abstract of 300-500 words, accompanied 
by a short biographical note (100 words), by October 1st, 2026 to 
(alessandramaria.goggio /at/ unibg.it) <mailto:(alessandramaria.goggio /at/ unibg.it)> 
and (giuseppe.previtali /at/ unibg.it) <mailto:(giuseppe.previtali /at/ unibg.it)>. 
Notification of acceptance will be sent by October 20, 2026.
If the proposal is accepted, the full article must be submitted by March 
1st, 2027. Articles should not exceed 6,000 words and may include up to 
six images, as well as relevant links. Authors are responsible for 
securing all necessary permissions and publication rights for any 
iconographic or archival materials included. All submissions will 
undergo double-blind peer review. Contributions may be submitted in 
either Italian or English.
No payments from the authors will be required.
Publication of the issue is scheduled for December 2027.
---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please use it responsibly and wisely. The commlist has no responsibility for any damage caused by its postings. Subscription to the list automatically implies agreement with this rule.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ commlist.org)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------