News > Call for Papers > NEW DEADLINE – Call for Panel Contributions: “Framing America: Visual Narratives and Transnational Exchange Across the Centuries”
Published:
NEW DEADLINE: We invite submissions for presentations (approximately 15 minutes) from scholars interested in visual culture, transnational studies, and American studies. Contributions can focus on historical or contemporary practices and may employ theoretical approaches from visual studies, cultural theory, media studies, or performance studies.
Organizers:
Univ.- Prof. Dr. Stefan Brandt (University of Graz, Austria)
Dr. Saptarshi Mallick (University of Graz, Austria)
Planned venue:
12th World Congress of the International American Studies Association,
“Visual Americas: Image, Text, Performance.”
Hacettepe University, Ankara, Türkiye, May 14-16, 2025.
As we move through the ‘pictorial turn’ of the 21st century, W.J.T. Mitchell’s ideas from What Do Pictures Want? (2005) continue to be highly relevant. 📚 Visual culture has always been central in shaping how America is perceived, both domestically and internationally. 🌎 From early maps of the New World 🗺️ to modern films 🎥 and social media 📱, images have consistently ‘framed’ America, reflecting and shaping its global relationships.
This panel invites participants to explore how visual representations of America have evolved over time and facilitated cultural dialogue and global connections, especially with Europe and Asia. 🌏 We encourage scholars to examine how media—including painting 🎨, photography 📸, film 🎬, television 📺, and digital platforms 💻—have shaped the flow of ideas, ideologies, and identities across borders.
Building on Paul Giles’s concept of “Virtual Americas” (2002), which highlights the influence of transatlantic and transpacific narratives on American culture, this panel asks: How do visual depictions of America transcend national borders? How does visual culture shape and export American ideologies to Europe and Asia, and how do these regions, in turn, reshape America’s visual identity? 🤔
By positioning America as a center of visual exchange, we aim to explore the intersection of national and transnational narratives. 🌐 Some guiding questions include:
Drawing from visual studies, transnational American studies, and performance theory, this panel views visual culture not just as a reflection of society, but as an active force that shapes cultural narratives. From colonial maps 🗺️ to today’s global digital spectacles 🌐, visual representations of America have long negotiated between national self-image and foreign perceptions. We will explore how visuality functions as a form of cultural currency, placing America within a global network of meaning-making.
We welcome contributions on the following themes:
The transnational flow of visual cultures and their impact on American identity: How have depictions of America influenced and been influenced by European and Asian cultures? 🌍🎨
This panel offers an exciting opportunity to rethink how America has been visually “framed” over the centuries—how images have traveled, transformed, and shaped global narratives about the U.S. and its role in the world. 🌍📸
We invite submissions for presentations (approximately 15 minutes) from scholars interested in visual culture, transnational studies, and American studies. Contributions can focus on historical or contemporary practices and may employ theoretical approaches from visual studies, cultural theory, media studies, or performance studies.
We look forward to your insights! ✨
Please submit an abstract (250–300 words) along with a brief bio-sketch (maximum 150 words), both included in a single text document, to Stefan Brandt (stefan.brandt@uni-graz.at) and Saptarshi Mallick (saptarshieng@gmail.com) by Monday, November 4, 2024. 📅
******************************
Prof. Dr. Stefan Brandt
University of Graz
Department of American Studies
(Research Area for American Literary and Cultural History with a Focus on (Trans-) Nationality and Space)
Heinrichstr. 18/I
A-8010 Graz
Dr. Saptarshi Mallick
University of Graz
Department of American Studies
(Research Area for American Literary and Cultural History with a Focus on (Trans-) Nationality and Space)
Heinrichstr. 18/I
A-8010 Graz