[ecrea] Special Issue of NANO on Star Wars The Force Awakens

Special Issue Editors Sean Scanlan, Alan Lovegreen, and I have extended 
the deadline to March 5, 2017 for the upcoming New American Notes Online 
(NANO) focused on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We have already received 
exciting articles working their way through the review process, and if 
you have written a brief article on TFA, we encourage you to send it to 
us, too! More details and how to submit your work to the special issue 
are included below:


/Issue 12
NEW DEADLINE: March 5, 2017
Special Issue: Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Narrative, Characters, 
Media, and Event
Guest Editors: Jason W. Ellis, Alan Lovegreen, and Sean Scanlan/

/
/

/This thing [Star Wars] communicates. It is in a language that is 
talking to young people today, and that’s marvelous./

—Joseph Campbell in conversation with Bill Moyers, /The Power of Myth 
/(1988)

/There are certainly many more themes in The Force Awakens that speak to 
us, and help us to learn more about these characters and what makes them 
tick./

—Dan Zehr, “Studying Skywalkers” column on starwars.com (May 18, 2016)

It is the aim of this special issue of /NANO/ to address the 
significance of the latest installment of /Star Wars /by exploring its 
narrative, characters, media, and event. Across nearly four decades, 
audiences spanning generations have experienced /Star Wars /through 
films, television programs, books, video games, special events such as 
the annual “celebrations,” and other storytelling media, including 
action figures and LEGO. Following Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, 
George Lucas’ production company, audiences experienced a new transmedia 
event and a continuation of the old stories with the release of /Star 
Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens /in 2015. Joseph Campbell’s earlier 
observations about the first film raises new questions that deserve to 
be answered about the latest: How does this new film communicate? What 
language does it use? And, to whom is it speaking?


One way to approach these issues of communication and language is 
through the convergence of the film’s narrative and characters, 
especially how the transmission of this convergence gets revealed 
through a variety of media as an event. For example, how does the film’s 
narrative respond to, continue, and challenge those that it follows? And 
what about the cast of characters—some returning and some new? What do 
these characters and their performance of the narrative have to say 
about the here-and-now as well as the past? Of course, the narrative is 
told through media, which includes different film technologies, digital 
distribution, DVD and Blu-Ray discs, websites, video games, and apps. 
And stepping back for a larger perspective, the release of the film and 
its transmedia supporting elements inform /The Force Awakens /as an 
event, in part orchestrated by Disney/Lucasfilm, and in part connected 
to contemporary events, including #oscarssowhite, #womeninfilm, and 
#paygap. Furthermore, how does its event(s) relate to those of the past, 
including specifically those centered on the release of the earlier 
films and subsequent events awakening fans’ nostalgic enthusiasm. /The 
Force Awakens/’ considerable box office performance and tie-in successes 
signal how significant this film (and its progenitors) is, and it is the 
aim of this special issue to explore the promise and pitfalls of its 
cultural influence.


This issue welcomes multimodal essays up to 4,000 words (excluding works 
cited) exploring topics relating to /Star Wars: The Force Awakens/, 
including but not limited to the following:

  * transmedia storytelling and /The Force Awakens /(including “Journey
    to /Star Wars: The Force Awakens/” publications, such as Chuck
    Wendig’s novel, /Star Wars: Aftermath/, and comic books /Star Wars:
    Shattered Empire /and /Star Wars: Poe Dameron/
  * media transformation and adaptation (e.g., comparing the film with
    Alan Dean Foster’s novelization)
  * materiality and /The Force Awakens /(e.g., LEGO, play, and collecting)
  * /Star Wars /fandom and cosplay
  * /Star Wars /reference materials and publications
  * starwars.com and the official /Star Wars /app
  * /Star Wars /videogames including /LEGO Star Wars: The Force
    Awakens/, /Star Wars Battlefront/, and the now defunct /Disney
    Infinity /tie-ins
  * Jakku Spy VR experience
  * /Star Wars Celebration /and /ComicCon /special events
  * social and political movements’ coinciding/connecting with /The
    Force Awakens/
  * the hero’s journey and the heroes’ journeys
  * movement and storytelling
  * vehicles as characters
  * nostalgia and familiarity
  * inclusive casting/characters
  * droids and aliens
  * hidden bodies/cgi characters (e.g., Maz Kanata/ Lupita Nyong’o and
    Captain Phasma/Gwendoline Christie)
  * race and gender in /The Force Awakens/
  * terrorism, insurgency, war, and militarism
  * surveillance

Direct questions to the Special Issue co-editors: Jason W. Ellis 
[(jellis /at/ citytech.cuny.edu)], Alan Lovegreen [(alanlovegreen /at/ yahoo.com)], 
and Sean Scanlan [(sscanlan /at/ citytech.cuny.edu)].

/NANO/ is a multimodal journal. Therefore, we encourage submissions that 
include images, sound, or video in support of a written argument. These 
multimodal components may consist of objects and data sets that go 
beyond traditional media. The multimodal components of the essay must be 
owned or licensed by the author, come from the public domain, or fall 
within reasonable fair use (see Stanford University Libraries’ Copyright 
& Fair Use site, http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/ and the 
U.S. Copyright Office’s Fair Use site, 
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html for more information. /NANO/’s 
Fair Use Statement is available on its submission page, 
http://www.nanocrit.com/submissions-information/).


For questions about video, audio, or image usage, please contact /NANO/: 
(editornano /at/ citytech.cuny.edu).

/NANO/ uses modified MLA (Modern Language Association) formatting and style.

Submission style guidelines: 
http://www.nanocrit.com/submissions-information/style-guide-nano/

Submission form: 
http://www.nanocrit.com/submissions-information/submission-form-page-nano1

Keywords and abstract: Each author is asked to submit 5 keywords and a 
150-word abstract to accompany their submission.


Schedule: Deadlines concerning the special issue to be published in /NANO/:

  * Submission deadline: March 5, 2017
  * Complete comments and peer review June 2017
  * Pre-production begins August 2017

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please
use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------