SERIES Vol 7 No 2 – Call for Papers: Latin American Television Fiction in Times of Change (2015-2021)

2021-03-09

Editor(s):
Rosario Lacalle (Autonomous University of Barcelona).
Juan Piñón (New York University)
Javier Mateos-Pérez (Complutense University of Madrid)

Television fiction constitutes one of the basic pillars of television consumption. The arrival of video-on-demand platforms and the ease of internet access, together with the development of pay channels and the evolution of free-to-air television, have turned television fiction into the biggest source of entertainment for the public and the main focus of attention for critics in recent years.

Both nationally and internationally, the production, broadcasting, distribution, and consumption of television fiction are undergoing processes of change that are triggering technological, sociological, and cultural transformations, while also opening the door to corporations in the telecommunications and computer sectors, which have now become predominant actors in this new media landscape.

In Latin America, the television industry operates in a heterogeneous context that nevertheless has certain common features throughout the region, such as the preeminence of free-to-air television, the interconnectivity of the media, and the adoption of technologies that are altering traditional logics. This complex new context stimulates innovation in the processes of production, distribution, and consumption of television fiction content.

While in the past, the objective of television broadcasters was to capture mass audiences, operators today are pursuing a new audience that is more widely dispersed, with more specific interests and greater control over consumption. In this context, the progressive shift of audiences from traditional TV channels to VoD platforms is bringing about significant changes affecting the industry, the viewers, and the content.

Although streaming platforms mostly broadcast audiovisual content in English, their commercial strategies include efforts to complement their international catalogs with productions in other languages, like Spanish or Portuguese, and to offer local content in order to diversify and cater to different tastes and cultures.

This monographic issue of Series: International Journal of TV Serial Narratives aims to bring together specialists in academic research on television fiction with the intention of defining, characterizing, and explaining the key factors transforming television fiction in Latin America. This call for papers includes work that prioritizes issues such as transnationalization, comparative studies, and studies of image, formats, narratives, and innovative television fiction productions that illustrate the changes taking place.

The monograph, titled “Latin American television fiction in times of change (2015-2021)”, will feature research articles exploring television fiction with the intention of analyzing the different dimensions of a diverse and multifarious process that can be approached from the perspectives of production, content, or audience. The volume aspires to offer a range of critical views that highlight the unique nature of the Latin American model and its relationship with the Spanish sphere.

Themes

  • New dynamics in the production and distribution of television fiction
  • Television fiction set in the past
  • Perspectives and studies of Afro-Latin Americanity, indigenism, xenophobia, class, and gender in television fiction
  • Comparisons of television fiction in Latin America and Spain
  • Political and social representations in Latin American television fiction: youth, immigration, sexuality, indigenism, Afro-Latinity, political activism, drug trafficking, national identities
  • The aesthetic and narrative innovations of television fiction series
  • Audiences, consumption, and reception of Latin American television fiction

Deadline for submissions:

Articles must be submitted before July 20, 2021 to undergo the peer-review process. In their submissions, authors must indicate that it is an article for this monograph.

Proposed articles must comply with the journal's submission and style rules: https://series.unibo.it/about/submissions

Publication: December 2021.