[ecrea] [CfP special issue of Communications on 'Communicating family memory'

***With apologies for cross-posting***
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*CfP: Communicating family memory: remembering in a changing media 
environment*
Special issue of /Communications/; guest-edited by Christine Lohmeier, 
University of Bremen
Memory and media are closely interlinked areas of research: In fact, 
memory has always materialized through cultural artefacts, various 
objects and the mediation of images, words and signs. Furthermore, 
memory as a social construct has a strong collective dimension. Even 
individuals’ memories  can be viewed and made sense of within the 
context of different collectivities and social formations such as the 
family, an ethnic community or a nation. Media are essential for these 
groups to communicate with each other and thereby constitute and 
negotiate identities, or make sense of the world – past, present and 
future included.
The proposed special issue of /Communications/ aims to solicit articles 
which consider remembering and forgetting within the contexts of 
families. Next to the nation and ethnic communities, families are 
classic memory communities. Families shape the individual’s 
understanding of personal and collective identities and belonging, as 
well as notions of exclusion. Moreover, families can provide an 
immediate personal access to the past (through older family members and 
previous generations) as well as the future (children and imagined 
future generations).
In times of “deep mediatization”, communication within families has 
undergone some tremendous changes: a higher number of communication 
devices are in use with an increasing number of functions and media and 
communication devices present in most areas of everyday life. At the 
same time the pace of innovation is increasing – both in terms of 
devices and gadgets available and in terms of services and platforms on 
offer. Through everyday practices like texting and emailing, more and 
more digital traces are produced creating a sense that these activities 
are stored somewhere and therefore not forgotten. Meanwhile, it is also 
apparent that the data produced through these activities are not in 
one’s own hands and the people who generate them do not have complete 
control over them.
Simultaneously, heightened mobility (be it for work or leisure 
purposes), migratory experiences and flight, as well as divorces  and 
ruptures within families provide challenges as well as perhaps new 
opportunities for creating family memory.
Submissions can address but are not limited to the following topics:
◊ media and memory practices in families
◊ negotiating memory through communication practices and media use
◊ the family as a memory community in the context of or in relation to 
other memory communities
◊ communicative practices and remembering in different types of families 
(single-parent, LGBT parents, mixed-race families, multi-generational 
families, foster families)
◊ representation of family memory in media texts, exhibitions, museums
◊ families as (dys-)functional memory communities
◊ critical approaches that question/further develop the concept of 
family and family memory
­◊ theorizing  mediated family memory
◊ communication and family memory in times of crises, migration and flight
◊ media, memory, mnemonic practices of transnational families
◊ the significance of objects and mediated memories for families
◊ forgetting in families in times of deep mediatization
◊ power relations/struggles concerning memory and communication matters 
within families
◊ methodological questions  and reflections concerning researching 
family communication and family memory
◊ situating communicative practices and family memory  in the context of 
mass communication
*Formal requirements and time line*
For this special issue /Communications. The European Journal of 
Communication Research/ accepts full articles (manuscripts of up to 
8,000 words with present original work) and research in brief 
(manuscripts of up to 4,000 words). For further details see 
http://www.communicationsonline.eu/node/7
In a first step, please submit an extended abstract of about (600 – 800 
words), indicating if you would like to submit a full article or a 
manuscript for research in brief. In addition, please provide a short 
biographical note (of no more than 150 words) of contributing authors. 
A selection of the abstracts received will be invited to provide full 
submissions. These will be peer-reviewed (double-blinded).
Suggestions for the book review section are also welcome.
Please submit abstracts to (christine.lohmeier /at/ uni-bremen.de) 
<mailto:(christine.lohmeier /at/ uni-bremen.de)>and 
(rieke.boehling /at/ uni-bremen.de) <mailto:(rieke.boehling /at/ uni-bremen.de)>
Deadline for abstract submission: 30 August 2016
Notification: 15 September 2016
Deadline for submission of full manuscripts: 15 December 2016
Final deadline for revisions: 30 April 2017





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