[ecrea] The Italian noir: CFP special issue of JICMS

*   The Italian /noir/*

**

*Call for Papers*

**

*Guest-edited issue of /the/ /Journal of Italian Cinema and Media Studies/*

*//*

*Editors: Marco Paoli, University of Liverpool and Barbra Pezzotti, 
Monash University*

The term /film noir/ was coined by French critics during the 1940s, to 
describe a particular type of crime fiction. At the start, it was 
associated with an American cinematic movement addressing questions of 
social and political morality, the morality of power and the place of 
the individual in relation to an increasingly oppressive state. However, 
the originality and the salient characteristics of this type of 
Hollywood fiction were perceived more clearly from a distance, in 
Europe, than they were in America itself. Indeed, the fact that the 
concept of /film noir /was first named in Europe and its representatives 
given serious critical attention there, suggests that it had a special 
relevance to the European context.

In her contribution to /European Film Noir/ (ed. by Andrew Spicer, 
2007), Mary Wood claims that the Italian difficulty with the concept of 
/noir /is mainly due to the predominance of the term /giallo/ (a special 
guest-edited issue, Vol. 5:2, of the /JICMS/ on Italian /giallo//horror 
cinema, was published in March 2017) and to a critical tradition which 
privileged realism and serious themes as marks of artistic quality at 
the expense of popular visual/media manifestations and their attempts to 
engage with criminal narratives, events and environments. However, as 
some critics (including Mary Wood 2007 and 2016, Dennis Broe 2014, Orio 
Caldiron 1999 and Fabio Giovannini 2000) have recently demonstrated, 
across Italian cinematic genres (/filoni/) and time the presence of 
/noir /elements (mainly drew from American and French cinema) can be 
detected in several films and in other media and artefacts including TV 
series, comics, graphic novels and radio productions. Stylistically, the 
characteristics of Italian /noir/ include: intense lighting contrast 
(/chiaroscuro/), dark atmosphere, visual/aural disorder and disturbing 
asymmetry, and visual/aural, narrative, kinetic and performative excess. 
Thematically, Italian /noir/ typically explores Italian societal and/or 
political context aiming at provoking anxiety, disturbance and disruption.

This guest-edited issue of the /JICMS/ aims to examine the concept of 
/noir/ in the Italian visual and media context. Areas of study may 
include (but are not limited to) the following:

-       Definitions and/or critical and theoretical approaches related 
to the concept of /noir /(i.e. trauma theory, gender theory, reception 
theory and cognitive theory)

-       Transnational /noir/: influence of indigenous sources (i.e. 
Italian painting and photography) as well as international ones (i.e. 
American /noir/, French /noir/ and German expressionism) on Italian 
Visual and Media manifestations of /noir/

- /noir/ as an expression of popular culture

- /noir/ and crime fiction

- /noir/ and censorship

- /noir/ and visual excess as a form of exploitation

- /noir/ neorealism (neorealismo nero)

- political /noir/

- Italian film /noir/ in the silent era

- /noir/ and the concept of genre

- /noir/ and (post-)studio production practices (including posters and 
other promotional visual and/or media tactics etc.)

- /noir/ and film style techniques including lighting, cinematography, 
sound, music, acting and performance

- /noir/ and women

- /noir/ and masculinity

- /noir/ and gender identity/representation

- /noir/ and the nature of subjectivity

- /noir/ and migration

- /noir/ and Blaxploitation

- /noir/ and fashion and design

- /noir/ and space (i.e. the figure of the city, architecture…)

- /noir /in other media and artefacts including radio, TV series, comics 
and graphic novels

- /noir/ and the digital era

- /noir/ and audiences

Abstracts and subsequent articles submitted for this guest-edited issue 
of the /JICMS/ should be entirely original and unpublished, should not 
be under consideration by any other publisher, and should not have been 
published previously even in part by any other publication. Plagiarism 
and self-plagiarism will result in an automatic rejection of the 
submitted article.

Please send the following information to both guest-editors Marco Paoli 
and Barbara Pezzotti at (m.paoli /at/ liverpool.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(m.paoli /at/ liverpool.ac.uk)> and (barbara.pezzotti /at/ monash.edu) 
<mailto:(barbara.pezzotti /at/ monash.edu)> by 12 February 2018.

a) clear title

b) 500-word abstract outlining:

-  the topic

-  critical approach

-  theoretical bases of the proposed article.

The abstract should clearly state the goals of the article, and provide 
a cohesive description of the objective of the argument. In addition to 
a 500-word abstract, authors should send:

1)Relevant bibliography and filmography

2)A 200-word biographical note followed by a detailed list of their 
academic publications and institutional contact details

3)Indicate the anticipated date of submission of the article if the 
proposal is accepted. This date should be within 8 weeks from the 
official invitation to submit the article.

Proposals that do not include the above information will be sent back to 
the authors.

The guest-editors will review abstracts, provide feedback on whether 
submissions fit the aims and scope of the journal, and offer suggestions 
on how to improve the proposed topic. If an abstract is accepted, the 
guest-editors will invite the author to submit the full-length article.

The abstract, and later the article, should avoid a literary approach 
rooted in a Humanities-centred model of inquiry. /JICMS/ represents an 
outlet for scholars engaged in the history, theory and criticism of film 
and media practices in Italy. The journal intends to foster critical 
analysis in the artistic features, production processes and technologies 
of film- and media-specific areas. Therefore the abstract, and 
subsequent article, should avoid treating a film as the narrative of a 
novel. Instead, authors should engage in a cinematic text analysis where 
the points discussed about films are supported by technical references 
to the effect of the following aesthetic features: a) the use of the 
camera (distance, framing, angles, movement); b) montage, 
/mise-en-scène/ (lighting, costume, scenic context); and c) music/sound.

Authors should avoid approaching films, themes or directors in a merely 
descriptive manner. They are expected to engage in in-depth analytical 
and interpretative work, formulate original perspectives and bring new 
critical insights. Their analysis should not be based on a preponderance 
of secondary sources nor be highly derivative of the scholarship 
referenced, but it should instead make a significant and innovative 
contribution to the pre-existing research and literature in the field.

Authors should also avoid submitting abstracts and articles that deal 
with only one film or are close readings of a character’s psychological 
process. /JICMS /seeks more comprehensive topics and treatments. 
Authors, however, should limit the scope of their discussion to 2 or 4 
films and few directors. For more information please see the Aims and 
Scope of the journal on the website.

Submitted articles will go through a rigorous double-blind peer review 
process.

For more information please see the Aims and Scope of the journal on the 
website: 
http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals../view-Journal,id=215/view,page=2/


Contributions should follow the Intellect Editorial Guidelines. All 
articles should be written in Microsoft Word 2010 and submitted as an 
email attachment. The article - including the endnotes, quotations, 
appendices, bibliography, etc. - should be double-spaced Times New Roman 
12 point and size 100% (please do not send enlarged texts), should not 
exceed the 8,000 word limit. Pdf documents will not be accepted.




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