CfP: Using Television’s Material Heritage
The
medium of television is responsible for a huge accumulation of
redundant objects: old TV sets and VTRs (and the tables to put them on),
superseded production equipment and software, videotape and film that
is no longer useable. This raises various questions, from practical to
historiographical and methodological ones.
What
are we to do with this accumulation of objects, many of which are not
easily recycled? How do we approach these objects as historical
records? What tools and research practices do we need to go beyond the
written cultures of television and address its non-discursive
experiences? How do we articulate historical narratives that may emerge
out of television’s non-discursive past? What histories do these objects
tell, other than what’s already been documented and preserved in
written and audiovisual archives?
It
is not enough simply to document these objects. They are the silent
witnesses to television’s history, and so can be made to speak again.
This issue of VIEW will explore the many attempts that are taking place
to preserve, reuse, engage with and study the objects from television’s
material heritage. There are many issues involved here:
- museum practice in an age of shrinking budgets;
- the status of enthusiasts and their collections;
- the hidden ecological impact of TV industries;
- the ways that ‘redundant’ production equipment can often be used effectively well after its ‘use-by’ date by those with access to few resources;
- television objects as historical records;
- historiographical challenges posed by doing history with objects;
- different approaches to studying and writing about television objects;
- hands-on television research
VIEW’s
online platform allows authors to engage with different ways of
narrativising television’s past through the use of video and sound
recordings as well as written accounts. Contributors are especially
encouraged to experiment and engage with multi-media presentations of
histories from objects and hands-on television research.
Practical
Contributions
are encouraged from authors with different kinds of expertise and
interests in media studies, television and media history.
Paper proposals (max. 500 words) are due on January 15, 2018. Submissions should be sent to the managing editor of the journal, Dana Mustata. A notice of acceptance will be sent to authors by mid-February 2018.
Articles (3 – 6,000 words) will be due on May 15, 2018. Longer articles are welcome, given that they comply with the journal’s author guidelines.
About VIEW Journal
See www.viewjournal.eu for the current and back issues. VIEW is supported by the EUscreen Network and
published by the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in
collaboration with Utrecht University, Royal Holloway University of
London, and University of Luxembourg. VIEW is proud to be an open access
journal. All articles are indexed through the Directory of Open Access
Journals, the EBSCO Film and Television Index, Paperity and NARCIS.
Contact Info:
For further information or questions about the issue, please contact its co-editors John Ellis and Dana Mustata.
Contact Email: support@viewjournal.eu