Call for Papers

Image Events: From Theory to Action (edited collection)
Eds. Joe Wilferth and Kevin DeLuca

In a world awash in images, in a culture wherein images constitute the most influential form of public discourse, constructing image events (namely staged acts of protest designed for media dissemination) has become a crucial rhetorical strategy for corporate hegemony and citizen resistance. Such events, as has been demonstrated by Greenpeace, by PETA, by the Truth campaign against big tobacco and so many more, aim to heighten public awareness and affect cultural or mainstream ideographs.

The editors of a new collection on image events and visual rhetoric invite colleagues (graduate students included) from both English and communication studies to contribute original work on image events, on visual rhetoric, and on the rhetorical analysis of those events/rhetorics. Specifically, the editors invite submissions for three main areas of the collection: 1) theory, 2) analysis (i.e., individual cases and analyses according to a specific method of rhetorical criticism), and 3) pedagogy/action.

Examples of themes desired under each area include the following:

Theory
* Visual argumentation, visual rhetoric, visual literacy
* New Social Movement theory
* Connections to be made among image events and kairos, to prepon (the proper, the appropriate, the "fitting"), and/or to dynaton (the possible)
* Spontaneity (vs. scripted and/or performed action) and the rhetorical situation
* Sustainability of visual argumentation
* The logical line in visual rhetoric
* The Society of the Spectacle (and Guy Debord's "image-objects")

Analysis
* Social/Historical movement criticism
* Ideographic criticism
* Feminist criticism
* Environmental criticism
* Corporate discourse criticism
* Other

Pedagogical and Activism Implications
* Teaching/performing visual argumentation, visual rhetoric, visual literacy
* Teaching/performing civic engagement
* Teaching/performing resistance (monkeywrenching, culture jamming, detournement)
* Teaching alternative or non-traditional rhetorics
* Teaching rhetorical analysis

Abstracts (500 words) are due Friday, February 11, 2005. Please include with the abstract a working title and all contact information (name, address, phone, e-mail).

Selected contributors will be asked to provide initial drafts/manuscripts on or by July 1, 2005.

Editors: Joe Wilferth (University of Tennessee at Chattanooga) and Kevin DeLuca (University of Georgia)

Send abstracts (hardcopy) to:
Dr. Joe Wilferth
Department of English (#2703)
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
615 McCallie Avenue
Chattanooga, TN 37403

Queries:
E-mail: Joe-Wilferth_at_utc.edu
Phone: (423) 425-4621

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Received on Sun Dec 19 2004 - 18:36:32 EST