Call for Papers Special Issue on Convergence CultureVol 14 no 1. February 2008
Guest editors: Mark Deuze, Indiana University (mdeuze@indiana.edu) Henry Jenkins, MIT (henry3@mit.edu)
This call invites submissions for a special issue on Convergence Culture: the worldwide emergence of increasingly collaborative practices between media producers and consumers. Examples are television fan sites, game modifications (mods) and machinema, citizen journalism, interactive advertising and word-of-mouth marketing, transmedia storytelling (for example using games, movies, television, websites and comics), and so on. Convergence culture is both a top-down corporate-driven process and a bottom-up consumer-driven process. Media companies are learning how to accelerate the flow of media content across delivery channels to expand revenue opportunities, broaden markets and reinforce viewer commitments. Consumers are learning how to use these different media technologies to bring the flow of media more fully under their control and to interact with other users. We welcome submissions from a variety of disciplinary, theoretical and methodological backgrounds exploring the changing role and organization of work and productivity in the cultural and creative industries under the influence of convergence culture, as well as on creative processes initiated by or involving the people formerly known as the audience.
Specific topics and issues to be covered in this special issue for example are:
Case studies of media companies adopting convergence culture; Case studies of specific fan communities and their relationships with media producers; explorations of transmedia storytelling, viral marketing, and Alternate Reality; Gaming as forms that tap the emerging relations between media producers and consumers; Mapping of ethical, political, economical and cultural changes and challenges in an emerging convergence culture; Quantitative and/or qualitative empirical work on the production, content, and/or consumption of media messages in the context of convergence culture; Research focusing on convergence culture in the context of specific media industries (such as: computer and video games, advertising, journalism, television); International comparative work on convergence culture in media production.
Submissions addressing the special issue theme are invited to the following sections: Debates which are short polemics (usually 1000-3000 words); Articles which are refereed case study research articles (7000-11,000 words); Feature Reports which offer a critical overview of current research by reviewing a conference, exhibition or festival (4000-8000 words). Any inquiries concerning the Reviews section (which covers books, exhibitions, conferences, CD-ROMs, websites etc) should be directed to the regular reviews editor Jason Wilson (jason.wilson@luton.ac.uk). Submissions should be formatted using the Harvard reference method. Full details of referencing style and guidelines can be found on the journal website at http://convergence.luton.ac.uk/.
Proposals for papers should be directed to the editors. The deadline for submission of research articles is February 1st, 2007. The special issue will be published (by SAGE) in February 2008.
Jason Wilson
Reviews Editor - Convergence
School of Media, Art and Design University of Luton Park Square Luton Bedfordshire LU1 3JU United Kingdom
T +44 (0)1582 489114 F +44 (0)1582 489212 M 07886508141 jason.wilson@luton.ac.uk