Television Under Dictatorships: > > > > Call for Submissions to an Edited Collection of Academic Articles > > > > Scholars from various fields have often written about the strategic > value of media control to repressive regimes, but very little has been > published concerning the specific television cultures and programmes > that have developed in such political contexts. In particular, little > attention has been given to the wide range of programme forms, genres > and texts that have been broadcast under dictatorships. This lack of > attention may have perpetuated the view that such television has been > constituted by a stream of broadcasts of military parades, personality > cults and propagandised 'news' content. Yet television may also have > included other programmes such as soap opera and serious drama, > documentary, talk, entertainment, music and sport. Television > produced under repressive regimes has also been thought of as of low > quality, with little aesthetic merit, and lacking in intellectual or > artistic value because it was constrained by tight controls and > censorship. This too overlooks the diversity and complexity of > television programming and production. > > > > We are therefore seeking contributions to an internationally-based and > historically-focused edited collection that begins to explore a number > of these television forms and issues. We are interested in > contributions that address questions that include, but are not > restricted to, the following: > > > > * What types of programmes and genres were shown (parades/ personality > cults/ news/ soaps/ drama/ entertainment/ music etc.)? > * Was there a distinctive aesthetic/ textual character to the > television programmes shown? (If there was, how might this be > attributable to the political context rather than cultural/ national > variation? What was the relationship between the political context and > production practices?) > * What were the cultures of viewing under such regimes? (For example, > how closely aligned were such programmes to audience tastes and > interests? To what extent were audiences ambivalent or resistant? > Could certain programmes be interpreted as subversive?) > * How much influence did foreign television systems or > foreign-originated programming have on the character of television? > * How was television implicated at times when the nation came together > (state rallies, for example) or fractured apart (revolution, civil > war, etc.)? > > We envisage a series of case studies about television in particular > states under dictators, military juntas or one-party rule, and > involving any time-period from the birth of television to the > mid-1990s. Although we recognize that authors will need to place > television within a national institutional/ regulatory context, the > main focus of the book will be on accounts of television content/ > programme texts, aesthetics, production practices and audience > experience, whether in relation to everyday life, 'media events' or at > moments of particular crisis. We welcome contributions covering > television in Europe, the former Soviet bloc, Africa, the Middle East, > Asia, South America or any other part of the world. > > > > Interested scholars should e-mail a proposal (250 words approx.), > together with a biographical note, to Rob Turnock (Royal Holloway, > University of London, [log in to unmask]) or Peter Goddard > (University of Liverpool, [log in to unmask]) by 19 November > 2007. We would normally expect finished articles to be submitted > within 12 months from when the proposal is approved. > Michele Hilmes Professor, Media and Cultural Studies Director, Wisconsin Center for Film and Theater Research Department of Communication Arts University of Wisconsin-Madison Madison, WI 53706 608-262-2543 ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org