Special Issue of The Poster

Deadline: May 20, 2019

For this issue, The Poster seeks contributions in the form of papers, visual essays and reviews that interrogate the visual culture of the Second World War. Given the multiplicity of potential themes represented, we are open to an equally rich variety of approaches that contemplate the visual forms of communication in this period: images of war, propaganda, activism, authoritarianism, manifestos and manifestations, conflicts, dissident images, national and international cooperativism. The journal is not restricting the call to combatant nations; we welcome research that reflects neutral and non-aligned nation’s responses to the global conflict.

While this issue welcomes research into the formal mass media of the conflict (movies, posters, artworks, publishing and the like), we also welcome research into less overt propaganda. Uniforms, caricature, badges, architecture, unit signs, pornographic black propaganda, fake currency and stamps, movies and more were all pressed into service. At times, even the media of neutral states was conscripted to promote partial positions in their home nations. The Poster wants to see your research in these subjects.

The home fronts of the combatant nations saw the evolution of a rich visual culture beyond the state authored positions. From the domestic responses to shortages, the work of the Mass-Observation group, to civilian contributions to the Red Cross and the Swing Kids of Axis Europe; the lived experience of the civilian populations of the combatant nations forms a rich seam for research.

Details

In the spirit of multimodality, The Poster encourages scholars from both social and political science, as well as cultural studies, arts and communication studies, to submit proposals for work for publication.

The journal is looking for:

• Full papers: 7,000-9,000 words, plus illustrations, on the issue’s theme (for double-blind peer-review). Rich illustration of the text is welcomed. Theoretical papers as well as methodological discussion are welcome, but preferably in combination with empirical analysis of imagery. Case studies, comparisons across culture or historical studies are invited.
• Artist/designer monographs: Extended scholarly pieces addressing the issue’s theme (for double-blind peer-review). 10,000–25,000 words plus extensive illustrations.
• Image and photo essays: composed of illustrations, photographs, diagrams or schematics that use visual languages to communicate their point of view on the issue’s themes. Textual support may be added, if it is felt necessary.
• Reviews: reviews of relevant books, exhibitions and political gatherings, including critiques of contemporary historical revisionists.

Timeline

Abstracts (250 words) due *20 May 2019*. Please direct all submissions to the guest editor via helenab@ua.pt . Selected contributors will be informed in the following week if the journal would be interested in seeing a full manuscript. Full manuscripts due 30 August 2019.

For more information about the call, click here.