Editors: Noah Arceneaux (San Diego State University) and Anandam Kavoori (University of Georgia) Peter Lang Publishing
We are currently seeking contributions for The Mobile Media Reader, an anthology to be published by Peter Lang in 2012. This project began as an update of The Cell Phone Reader, a 2006 anthology of critical studies of various aspects of mobile communication. Given the dramatic and ongoing technological changes associated with mobile devices, we have now decided to compile an entirely new set of essays.
The hype and hyperbole associated with mobile media recall the utopian hopes described by Carey and Quirk in their classic essay “The Mythos of the Electronic Revolution.” Portable, hand-held devices, originally designed for voice communication, are now promoted as the latest technological device necessary to live a complete, 21st century, middle-class life. Meanwhile, all of the established media industries, including television, film, music, and print, seek to reach consumers through mobile devices, altering their products and economic models in order to do so. In light of these developments, this anthology seeks historical studies and culturally informed critiques of different forms of mobile media. We are especially interested in essays that reveal earlier precedents for this current phenomenon, or works that reveal how business models and theories developed in the past should be re-evaluated for mobile audiences.
The following list indicates the range of potential topics.
– Location-based advertising
– Privacy and surveillance concerns related to mobile devices
– Government efforts to restrict mobile communication
– New forms of television, designed for mobile devices
– Ringtones as a new musical genre
– History of hand-held video games
– Cultural reception of the Walkman
– Politics of spectrum allocation
– Innovative uses of mobile communication by ethnic/racial/cultural groups
Those interested in contributing should send an abstract (500 word max.) to Noah Arceneaux by October 22, 2010:
noah.arceneaux@sdsu.edu
Provisional Timeline:
Abstracts accepted until October 22, 2010.
Contributors notified by November 26, 2010.
First drafts (6,500 words, Chicago Style) due May 16, 2011.