[Commlist] CfA: Global Documentary and Cinematic Storytelling

CfA: Global Documentary and Cinematic Storytelling

Call for abstracts (sorry for crossposting):

Questions surrounding documentary’s legitimacy for representing the 
“real” can be traced back to the release of Nanook of the North (1922) 
given the film’s advancement of fictional techniques to tell a more 
compelling story. However, as Ian Mcdonald (2007) argues, documentary as 
a credible form of “cinematic” entertainment began to take shape in the 
1990s with the success of Michael Moore. This saw the increasing 
utilisation of fictional techniques by documentaries all over the globe 
to secure box office success. The blurring between fiction and 
non-fiction within documentary has only been amplified by the 
exponential developments of transnational streaming platforms. In a bid 
for platforms to secure global viewership, documentary as entertainment 
has only become even more important (Ioardache, Raats & Mombaerts, 
2022). It is reasonable to postulate that this has led to an 
overwhelming number of documentaries placing entertainment before truth. 
The implications this has on documentary being considered as a credible 
and valid channel for representing reality raises ethical concerns, 
which needs to be addressed. It becomes difficult to address this gap 
because what precisely is meant by the terms “fictional,” “cinematic,” 
“character” and “story” led within the context of documentary is 
nebulous. We seek to fill this void through an approach that meets 
global scholars with expertise in storytelling, documentary, and 
relevant disciplines at the confluence to better understand and 
articulate ongoing trends. This will facilitate more diverse scholarly 
work and equip students with relevant concepts that they can advance as 
a critical lens to improve their understanding of issues and debates 
specific to global documentary storytelling.

Potential topics that you may wish to cover (but not limited to):

· Character and characterisation in global documentary

· Dramatic arc in global documentary

· Narrative structure and global documentary

· Narrative conventions in global documentary

· Documentary storytelling in the age of transnational streaming platforms

· Documentary storytelling in interactive and VR documentary

· Documentary storytelling and global south

· Eco-documentary storytelling and Anthropocene

· Emotional engagement in global documentary storytelling

· Documentary storytelling and entertainment

The above list is far from exhaustive, so you are more than welcome to 
contribute an additional topic within the context of Global Documentary 
and Cinematic Storytelling.

This proposed volume has received support from Bloomsbury.

Please email chapter abstracts between 300-500 words to 
(levi.dean /at/ nottingham.edu.cn) and (zhaoyu.zhu /at/ nottingham.edu.cn) by 31st May 
2023. Abstracts should be sent in word or PDF format, and should include 
the following information:

· Chapter title

· Your name

· Your affiliation

· Bio (100 words)

We will notify authors of acceptance by July 2023. If selected for this 
publication, the full text of chapters will be due on 30th November 
2023. The proposed length of each chapter will be 6000-8000 words.


References:

Iordache, C., & Raats, T., & Mombaerts, S. (2022). The Netflix Original 
documentary, explained: global investment patterns in documentary films 
and series. Studies in Documentary Film. DOI: 10.1080/17503280.2022.2109099

McDonald, I. (2007). Situating the Sport Documentary. Journal of Sport & 
Social Issues, 31(3), pp. 208-225.


Editor Biographies:

Dr. Levi Dean is currently a Teaching Fellow in Communications and 
Cultural Studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China, and is 
the module convenor of Documentary and Reality, as well as Storytelling 
and Video Production. He is also the Director of Audio-Visual Technology.

Dr. Zhaoyu Zhu is a Teaching Fellow in Communication and Cultural 
Studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. He received the 
Katherine Singer Kovacs Essay Award from the Society of Cinema and Media 
Studies in 2022.

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