Call for Chapters: Explorations of Popular Characters and Archetypes Across Media

Editors

Jason DeHart, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, United States

Call for Chapters

Proposals Submission Deadline: July 8, 2026
 Full Chapters Due: October 21, 2026
 Submission Date: October 21, 2026

Introduction

This collection features the work of scholars across diverse fields examining the depiction of characters and stories within and across multiple and multimodal media ensembles (e.g., film, comics), including the contextual and longitudinal factors that impact narrative decisions, thematic explorations, cultural interpretations, and depictions. Some contributions consider the effect of digital production as opposed to traditional means of storytelling, including the impact of multimodality, changes in technology, movements in media, and artificial intelligence (AI) on narratives and meaning making. Chapters in this collection draw upon critical and descriptive theories of literacy, narrative, history, and representation in order to explore characters/archetypes/narrative elements within and across media (re)presentations.

Objective

Storytelling and narrative have been central hubs of culture for some time. This collection is envisioned as a space for scholars to probe questions of what interpretations and narrative casting means now in relation to the accessibility of media, the presence of new online tools, and the connecting points of fandom across geographical and philosophical spaces. Though education forms a foundational purpose of the chapters in this book, a wide range of scholarship fields are included.

Target Audience

This book is primarily geared toward scholars and students of scholarship in media, narrative, and literacy fields. This includes both graduate and undergraduate students, as well as scholars continuing the conversation about media storytelling and narrative interpretation. Both theoretical and theoretical/practical pedagogical contributions are welcome, including classroom narratives, semiotic and multimodal analyses, case studies of texts and situations, and qualitative work on reader/viewer response to media. Authors are encouraged to engage both creatively and critically to present findings and chapters that weave together theory and textual artifacts.

Recommended Topics

- The Impact of Media on Storytelling - Character Depictions and Developments in Film - Character Depictions and Developments in Comics - Archetypes Across Media - Applications of Specific Media to Storytelling Affordances for Authoring/Composing - Theoretical Explorations of Composition with Characters/Archetypes at Center - Theoretical and Practical Applications of the Ways in which Students Compose/Respond - Theories and Approaches to Representation across Media - Problematic/Limited Character Interpretations and Depictions Contrasted with Richer Representations - Archetypes of Characters and Stories which Redefine/Deconstruct Genres and Forms - Cultural and Contextual Factors Influencing Representations/Artistic Decisions - Cultural Trends and Movements and Their Impact on Popular Stories/Characters

Submission Procedure

Researchers and practitioners are invited to submit on or before July 8, 2026, a chapter proposal of 1,000 to 2,000 words clearly explaining the mission and concerns of his or her proposed chapter. Authors will be notified by July 22, 2026 about the status of their proposals and sent chapter guidelines.Full chapters of a minimum of 10,000 words (word count includes references and related readings) are expected to be submitted by October 21, 2026, and all interested authors must consult the guidelines for manuscript submissions at https://www.igi-global.com/publish/contributor-resources/before-you-write/ prior to submission. All submitted chapters will be reviewed on a double-anonymized review basis. Contributors may also be requested to serve as reviewers for this project.

Note: There are no submission or acceptance fees for manuscripts submitted to this book publication, Explorations of Popular Characters and Archetypes Across Media. All manuscripts are accepted based on a double-anonymized peer review editorial process.

All proposals should be submitted through the eEditorial Discovery® online submission manager.

Publisher

This book is scheduled to be published by IGI Global Scientific Publishing, an international academic publisher of the "Information Science Reference", "Medical Information Science Reference", "Business Science Reference", and "Engineering Science Reference" imprints. IGI Global Scientific Publishing specializes in publishing reference books, scholarly journals, and electronic databases featuring academic research on a variety of innovative topic areas including, but not limited to, education, social science, medicine and healthcare, business and management, information science and technology, engineering, public administration, library and information science, media and communication studies, and environmental science. For additional information regarding the publisher, please visit https://www.igi-global.com. This publication is anticipated to be released in 2027.

Indexing Information for Prospective Authors

IGI Global Scientific Publishing meets the criteria for inclusion in major indexing services such as Scopus; however, it is important to note that all indexing decisions are made independently by these services. IGI Global Scientific Publishing books are selectively indexed by the indexing organization after publication. Indexing cannot be guaranteed for any book prior to publication, and the indexing organization has complete control over the final selection and timeline.

Important Dates

July 8, 2026: Proposal Submission Deadline
July 22, 2026: Notification of Acceptance
October 21, 2026: Full Chapter Submission
December 23, 2026: Review Results Returned
February 3, 2027: Final Acceptance Notification
February 17, 2027: Final Chapter Submission

Inquiries

Jason DeHart University of Tennessee, Knoxville dehartjason33@gmail.com
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