China Media Research (CMR) Special Section: Media, Memory and Nation Building in Greater China

Call for Submissions

Scholars from across disciplines are invited to address the timely issue of media, memory and nation building in Greater China in the special section of China Media Research. Media and memory are two critical components in the process of nation building. While a shared media experience in the present is essential for people to imagine their membership in a larger national community (Anderson, 1983), consumption of mediated past is equally vital to cultivate the "sameness" (i.e., shared values and beliefs) among the national community. Focusing on the interplay between contemporary media, social memory, and nation building in the context of Greater China (i.e., China, Taiwan, Hong Kong), this special section seeks to showcase empirical research that investigates commemoration, remembrance, and mnemonic work as an essential force employed by political authorities, social activists, and citizens to legitimize and negotiate the modern Chinese nationality.

This special section is especially interested in empirically grounded submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following questions:

l   How do social media and the Internet change the formation of social memory in the context of Greater China?

l   How is social memory embedded/constructed in film, television, literature, comic books and graphic novels, visual art, and theatre in the context of Greater China?

l   How do political authorities employ social memory to achieve political ends and through what kinds of media platforms?

l   How do social activists and citizens employ social memory as a counterforce to challenge hegemonic national discourse(s) and through what kinds of media platforms?

l   How do we conceptualize and study mediated memory work in a non-Western context? How do the sociopolitical and cultural uniqueness of Greater China influence our understanding and employment of the concept "social memory"?

Submissions must not have been previously published nor be under consideration by another publication. An extended abstract (up to 1,000 words) or a complete paper at the first stage of the reviewing process will be accepted. All the submissions must be received by May 30, 2015. If the extended abstract is accepted, the complete manuscript must be received by August 20, 2015. Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with APA publication manual (6th edition) and should not exceed 8,000 words including tables and references. All manuscripts will be reviewed and the authors will be notified of the final acceptance/rejection decision. Please visit http:www.chinamediaresearch.net for more information about the quarterly journal of China Media Research, which publishes both print and online versions.

Please direct questions and submissions to the CMR special section guest editor, Chiaoning Su,at chiaoning.su@temple.edu.