Call for Manuscripts: Comics Studies – Aesthetics, Histories, and Practices

For a new book series, we are looking for English-language manuscripts that explore the aesthetics, histories, and practices of comics, manga, graphic novels, and other forms of sequential art.

This new international series expands the field of comics studies with research from around the world and across disciplines. It explores the aesthetics, histories, and practices of comics in order to bring different academic traditions engaged in the study of all forms of sequential art and graphic narrative into dialogue with one another.

The series covers formal, semiotic, media and cognitive studies approaches to the artistic, graphic, and media formation of comics. It seeks to illuminate the varied historical contexts, developments and differences between styles, schools, and genres of comic books; and to bring into focus the various practices, uses, functions, politics, and the conditions for production and reception of comics, including production studies as well as fan and participation studies. In other words, it addresses questions such as, What makes a comic book? What are the effects of lines, panels, and page-layouts? How are comics produced, distributed, and read?

We are looking for manuscripts on comics, manga, graphic novels, and other forms of sequential art. All volumes in the series will be published in English and will be peer-reviewed by two academics in the particular area of specialization. The series editors want to prioritize Gold Open Access publications and will work with authors to acquire financial backing to make this possible.

If you would like to submit a proposal or a book manuscript for inclusion in the series, or if you have further questions about the publishing process, please contact acquisitions editor Myrto Aspioti (myrto.aspioti@degruyter.com).

We specifically aim to further the emerging global discourse on comics by making truly groundbreaking work in the field accessible to a broader community of critics and scholars. We promote both innovative work and the internationalization of existing schools of comics studies from various languages that have hitherto been inaccessible to an international academic community. Proposals for monographs and edited volumes that bridge gaps between research disciplines, languages, and approaches are especially welcome. In this spirit, we want to avoid discriminating in favour of English native speakers. While proposals should be submitted to the publisher in English, the series editors will make an effort to allow for a review of full manuscripts in languages other than English wherever possible. In preparation for publication, the editors can advise authors on organizing and raising funds for translations into English as needed.

A proposal for this series should comprise roughly 5 pages, including an abstract, table of contents, chapter-by-chapter summary, and contributor bios. Please do not include suggestions for external reviewers. Please note that proposals for journal articles or individual chapters in edited volumes cannot be considered.

Series Editors:

Prof. Dr. Jaqueline Berndt (Stockholm University)
Prof. Patrick Noonan, PhD (Northwestern University, Evanston)
Prof. Dr. Karin Kukkonen (University of Oslo)
Prof. Dr. Stephan Packard (University of Cologne)

Advisory Board:

Prof. Daniele Barbieri, PhD (Academy of Fine Arts, Bologna)
Nandini Chandra, PhD (University of Hawaii, Mānoa)
Karl Ian U. Cheng Chua, PhD (Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City)
Dr. Felix Giesa (Frankfurt University)
Felipe Gomez, PhD (Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh)
Prof. Anne Magnussen, PhD (University of Southern Denmark, Odense)
PD Dr. Christina Meyer (TU Braunschweig)
Prof. Ann Miller, PhD (University Fellow at Leicester)
Prof. Katalin Orbán, PhD (Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest)
Prof. Dr. Jan-Noël Thon (Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim)
Prof. Wendy Wong, PhD (York University, Toronto)

[Title image by Adrián Santalla via Unsplash

Jaqueline Berndt

Jaqueline Berndt is Professor of Japanese Language and Culture at Stockholm University, Sweden.

Patrick Noonan

Patrick Noonan is Assistant Professor of Japanese Literature and Culture at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

Karin Kukkonen

Karin Kukkonen is Professor of Comparative Literature at the University of Oslo, Norway.

Stephan Packard

Stephan Packard is Professor of Popular Culture and Its Theories at Cologne University, Germany.

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