CALL FOR PAPERS
THE VELVET LIGHT TRAP
A CRITICAL JOURNAL OF FILM & TELEVISION
NUMBER 58, FALL 2006

Narrative & Storytelling
Much has been written about the industrial implications of mass media
conglomeration, the rise of digital technologies, and media
convergence.  How can media studies begin to talk about changes in
narrative conventions of Hollywood cinema and established television
genres in relationship to shifting industrial practices, social mores
and political climates?  As narratives become more intertextual,
hypertextual, and transmediated, how can we master them sufficiently
to study them academically?  Have new technologies helped media
producers to rewrite old rules, creating more challenging and distinct
media spectacles?  How can contemporary narrative conventions and
storytelling techniques be theorized as imitations and innovations of
old standards?  How do storytelling techniques emerge in relation to
viewer experiences and industrial imperatives?
The Velvet Light Trap invites papers that explore social, industrial,
textual, and audience-centered questions about narrative and
storytelling techniques in the media from both historical and
contemporary perspectives.

Possible topics may include (but are not limited to):

• Classical/post-classical debates about film form
• Narrative strategies in relation to industrial imperatives
• Narrative comprehension and the serial form
• Non-fiction narratives
• Evolutionary psychology and human predisposition to narrative
• Processes of narrative comprehension in the spectator
• Role of the audience in the construction of narrative
• Forms that challenge the boundaries of narration
• Canon, revisionism, and re-imaginings
• New forms/innovations in narrative style
• World-building, spatiality, and temporality in the narrative universe
• Evolution of narrative forms within television genres
• Analyses of texts that challenge dominant conventions of storytelling
• Storytelling in a transitional media era
• Storytelling as a cultural practice
• Secondary/ancillary texts and their impact in understanding narrative
• Narrative structures
• Series, sequels, and spin-offs
• Transmedia storytelling
• Cultural convergence
• Video game narratives
• National cinemas and storytelling practices
• Genre experiments
• Avant-garde film narratives

Papers should be between 6,000 and 7,500 words (approximately 20-25
pages double-spaced), in MLA style with a cover page including the
writer's name and contact information.  Please send four copies of the
paper (including a one-page abstract with each copy) in a format
suitable to be sent to a reader anonymously.  All submissions will be
refereed by the journal's Editorial Advisory Board.  For more
information or questions, contact Ben Aslinger ([log in to unmask]),
Derek Johnson ([log in to unmask]), Caryn Murphy
([log in to unmask]), or Brad Schauer ([log in to unmask]).
Submissions are due September 1, 2005, and should be sent to:
The Velvet Light Trap
University of Wisconsin – Madison
Department of Communication Arts
821 University Avenue
Madison, WI USA 53706-1497
The Velvet Light Trap is an academic, peer-reviewed journal of film
and television studies.  Issues are coordinated alternately by
graduate students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the
University of Texas-Austin.  The Editorial Board includes such notable
scholars as Charles Acland, Peter Bloom, David Foster, Sean Griffin,
Bambi Haggins, Heather Hendershot, Charlie Keil, Michele Malach, Dan
Marcus, Nina Martin, Tara McPherson, Walter Metz, Jason Mittell, James
Morrison, Steve Neale, Karla Oeler, Lisa Parks, and Malcolm Turvey.

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