[Commlist] CFP: Special Issue of Revenant Journal - Death and the Screen

*Death and the Screen*

Call for Papers for Special Issue

Guest Editors Dr Bethan Michael-Fox (@bethmichaelfox) and Dr Renske 
Visser (@Renske_Visser)

Revenant (www.revenantjournal.com 
<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.revenantjournal.com%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cneil.fox%40falmouth.ac.uk%7C54d016439ce5404ae51908d81ccdcdc1%7C550beeb36a3d4646a111f89d0177792e%7C0%7C0%7C637291017687680683&sdata=3mBU9dwyc3k6YNIX0rjdWt46Kd%2Fm5hPZbyJXx7nO7sk%3D&reserved=0>) 
is now accepting abstracts for critical articles, creative writing 
pieces, and book, film, music, or event reviews for a themed issue on 
Death and the Screen, examining how screens, in the broad sense of the 
word, have shaped and continue to shape the way we witness, experience 
and reflect on death and dying.

Numerous and complex relationships between death and the screen have 
already been charted. The dead come back in film, on television and 
online. Screens let us not only see the dead but hear them too. As 
Penfold-Mounce has emphasised, in a technology saturated world of mass 
media, ‘the dead no longer remain silent as the grave’ (2018, p.36). 
Whilst relationships between screens and digital media more broadly have 
gained attention, so have the dynamics of death and individual screen 
media.While some argue that television is one way in which death is 
brought into the home, others have examined the ways in which the 
representation of dying on television might be problematic or harmful to 
audiences.

In terms of ‘real’ death, it is possible to witness death, dying and 
trauma on mobile phones, tablets and laptops simply by scrolling through 
social media. Autoplay and ‘live’ features in apps have been critiqued 
for the ways they expose people to these images without warning. When 
George Floyd’s death at the hands of US police officers was recorded 
some people sought this video out, while others have shared their 
experiences of deciding not to watch it.

Many people don’t shy away from death and the gory on screen. To what 
extent is this a form of escapism and to what extent is it an extension 
of their everyday life? And how can you ‘escape’ death on the screen 
when death and dying is at the center of the daily news and a theme in 
almost any film, television show and now also in advertisements? How do 
screen deaths relate to ‘real’ deaths in people’s lives and can such a 
distinction even be made?

As screen media become more ubiquitous, these complex and multifaceted 
relationships continue to warrant further critical attention. In keeping 
with/Revenant/’s positioning as an inter-disciplinary journal 
encouraging discussion about the supernatural, uncanny or the weird, we 
welcome proposals for submissions that engage with these ideas. 
However,/Revenant/also emphasises that the ‘natural’ is part of the 
super-natural and as such academic and/or creative engagement with 
‘natural’ death and/on the screen, or which complicates the notion of a 
‘natural’ death, is also welcome.

We believe a range of different methodological and theoretical 
approaches will enrich this special issue and as such urge you not to 
feel limited. We encourage proposals for academic articles or creative 
responses, which might be poetry, fiction, fanfiction, art, comics, 
audio or film that might stand alone or be accompanied by critical 
reflections, as well as autoethnographic and/or personal responses. 
Submissions that blur the boundaries of these categories are also welcomed.

*Topics or areas of focus might include: *

Making sense of death and dying through the screen

Haunting and/in screen cultures

Weird screen deaths

The ethics of screen deaths

Death and the supernatural on screen

Documentary engagement with death and dying

Adaptation of death (from literature or elsewhere) to the screen

Death and the uncanny in screen cultures

Death, social media and any of/Revenant’/s themes: the uncanny, the 
supernatural, the weird or haunting

Personal and/or creative responses to death and the/on the screen

Crises (climate, pandemic, other crises), death and screens

Non-human death and/on the screen

Death in screen gaming

Please submit extended abstracts of 500 words by 5 October 2020 with a 
short bio either via the Google Form 
here:https://forms.gle/2cnxWLkfSEzK8mR19 
<https://eur02.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.gle%2F2cnxWLkfSEzK8mR19&data=02%7C01%7Cneil.fox%40falmouth.ac.uk%7C54d016439ce5404ae51908d81ccdcdc1%7C550beeb36a3d4646a111f89d0177792e%7C0%7C0%7C637291017687680683&sdata=ydiGQH3Q7qW7hQEQY9BPQOFMELXHcwgF2tCuss5rAIE%3D&reserved=0>

Or to:(deathandthescreen /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(deathandthescreen /at/ gmail.com)>

For creative or innovative submissions please also feel welcome to get 
in touch via email (ondeathandthescreen /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(deathandthescreen /at/ gmail.com)>to discuss your ideas or propose 
your work in a different way.

Reviews of books, films, games, events, and art related to the death and 
the screen will be considered (800-1,000 words in length).

If your abstract is accepted, the full submission will be due in April 
2021 with a view to publish in late Winter 2021.

Inquiries are welcome and should be directed 
(todeathandthescreen /at/ gmail.com) <mailto:(deathandthescreen /at/ gmail.com)>

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