DIEGESIS. Interdisziplinäres E-Journal für Erzählforschung / E-Journal for Narrative Research across the Disciplines Volume 2, Number 2, April 2013
Topic: Narration and Medium
Submission date: 31 January, 2013
For almost half a century, i.e. since the French structuralists around Roland Barthes tried to derive specific narrative structures from narratives, an essential part of narratology has been transgressing the boundaries of the medium of literature. Simultaneously, the following controversial question has existed right from the beginning: Are categories which are non-specific with regard to media useful for disciplines which often define themselves by the peculiarity of their media-related subject (e.g. literary studies, film studies, theatre studies)? In defiance of these reservations, an interdisciplinary as well as intermedial field of research has emerged whose unity is guaranteed by the common subject of “stories”. Currently, the focus of interest lies not so much on similarities, but rather on the different manifestations and functions of narratives. In this context, especially the digital revolution is continually leading to new ways which render the medial constitution of narratives possible.
Within the scope of the next issue of the e-journal DIEGESIS, we would like to publish articles dealing with media-specific aspects of the constitution of narratives. On the one hand, these articles can represent comparative studies analysing the same or similar narratives within different media; on the other hand, they can opt for a more theoretical approach to the topic in that they methodologically reflect upon media-specific characteristics. Hence, the investigation of the media-related specifics of narratives in visual media (film, video, graphic novel, visual arts, etc.), audio media (music, audio drama, audio book, etc.) and new media (blogs, youtube, computer games, etc.) are convenient for our purposes. Moreover, we particularly hope for contributions from non-philological disciplines.
We would like to ask for the submission of abstracts of approximately half a page (DIN-A4) until 31 March, 2012 at the latest. Please send your abstract to the editorial team of DIEGESIS: Dr. Matthias Aumüller (aumueller@uni-wuppertal.de) or Dr. Filippo Smerilli (smerilli@uni-wuppertal.de). The editorial team and the editors are going to decide on the acceptance of your proposal until April 30th, 2012. Contributions have to be submitted until January 31st, 2013.
Starting in October 2012, the new e-journal Diegesis. Interdisziplinäres E-Journal für Erzählforschung / E‑Journal for Narrative Research across the Disciplines, which is funded by the German Research Funding Organisation (DFG), is going to be released as an open access publication. The first issue, dealing with the topic “Narratology in the 21st Century. An Interdisciplinary Review,” is going to be published in October 2012. The website of the e-journal (www.diegesis.uni-wuppertal.de) is going to be activated simultaneously with the publication of the first issue.
The quality of all articles appearing in DIEGESIS is assured by an anonymised peer-review procedure. The international peer reviewers who congregate in an advisory panel represent a large spectrum of more than twenty subjects.
On the objectives of DIEGESIS:
The concept of ‘narrativity’ has advanced to a leading category in diverse disciplines of the humanities, cultural studies and the social sciences. The journal DIEGESIS provides an interdisciplinary platform for the respective manifold research interests. It is published in digital format online and pursues the following two objectives: orientation and actuality. Reviews continuously inform about the latest publications; articles on changing key subjects reflect upon recent developments within the international field of narrative research.
DIEGESIS offers to all scholars who work in the field of narratology a forum which enhances the communication across disciplinary boundaries. Thanks to its interdisciplinary orientation and its free availability on the internet as an open access journal, the e-journal, which is published in English and in German, fills a gap within the set of narratological journals which already exist.
The journal is published at the University of Wuppertal and in cooperation with the local Centre of Narrative Research (CNR) (www.zef.uni-wuppertal.de) by the professors Matei Chihaia (Romance studies), Matías Martínez (German studies), Michael Scheffel (general literary studies) and Roy Sommer (English and American studies).