[ecrea] Call for articles: Brevity and the short form in serial television

Call for papers for collected volume
Short Circuit: Brevity and the short form in serial television
 As critics, creators and academics alike herald the new “Golden Age” 
of television, the accent has increasingly been placed on the excess 
inherent in the form, the temptation to “binge-watch” a single fiction 
over several hours, or the proliferation of narratives and storylines in 
American television’s “endless present” (which, unlike its British 
equivalent, is not traditionally designed to end at any specific point). 
Melissa Ames (Time in Television Narrative: Exploring Temporality in 
Twenty-First-Century Programming, 2012) reminds us however that time is 
at the very center of the television narrative, and that television 
differs from its cinematic equivalent notably by its incremental 
approach to storytelling –alternately playing with and combining 
duration and brevity. Thus, in this publication, we would like to come 
back to what originally distinguishes TV series from films, i.e. their 
specific connection to shortness. We will be examining television as a 
short form, insisting on the structure implicit in the television 
episode, be it the traditional forms (30 or 60 minutes), or the 
increasing popularity of webseries that feature microepisodes (of 2-10 
minutes), like The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, Frankenstein, MD, Carmilla, or 
Kings of Con and Con Man. We will attempt to examine this balance 
between short episodes and long duration, as well as the association of 
episode length with genre – traditionally, hour-long series have been 
dramatic, and half-hour series comic. (All the webseries with 
microepisodes mentioned here are comedies.) Further investigation into 
the serial nature of these webisodes might examine other, often dramatic 
series, rooted in transmedia and multiplatform storytelling, notably 
those like The Walking Dead’s webseries, intended to complete the larger 
narrative. Looking at the format of the series themselves, from 
miniseries (a form that has become popular beyond British television) to 
short-lived series (some of which have become cult despite – or because 
of – their cancellation), we will interrogate the notion of brevity in 
the specific context of the television narrative and ponder on the lures 
and constraints of the short, or relatively short, series. Finally, the 
tendency towards summary in the televised short form will also be 
broached, whether it is in the authorized content of the series (the 
credits or the “previously on” sequences) or the fan-made videos on line 
(like “5 seasons of LOST in 8 minutes”; “Best of” videos showcasing the 
viewers’ preferred jokes, insults, love scenes, etc.; alternate credits, 
or indeed vidding). The publication thus hopes to emphasize television’s 
brevity, in all its forms (and all its platforms), and its relation to 
serial storytelling.
Articles on case studies are also welcome.
The articles will be selected with a view to submitting the collected 
volume for consideration to Edinburgh UP.  5000-word articles (Times New 
Roman, 12 font, double-spaced, MLA style) should be sent to Sylvaine 
Bataille ((sylvaine.brennetot /at/ univ-rouen.fr)), Florence Cabaret 
((florence.cabaret /at/ gmail.com)) and Shannon Wells-Lassagne 
((Shannon.Wells-Lassagne /at/ u-bourgogne.fr)) by January 15th 2019.

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