JRFM 2028, 14/1 (May 2028); Deadline submissions: 1 April 2027

Religion – Media – Crime

Discourses surrounding crime, punishment and justice are closely entangled with religious ideas and narratives while media function not only as echo chambers but are akin to co-authors of these discourses. Visions of the afterlife, for example, are often linked to earthly conduct and include rewards for a devout life and punishment of irreverent or harmful deeds. Many religious traditions have spent great effort in painting mental and real images of acceptable and unacceptable behavior, and developing underlying ethical frameworks with their notions of good and evil. Trying to create narratives about a good life worth living, religious narratives themselves have often developed coercive tendencies. Furthermore, they have also provided concepts and language used in broader social or political discourses to understand crime or legitimize its punishment.

 

The upcoming issue on “Religion – Media – Crime” aims to bring debates about religion, crime (and related notions like justice, innocence, good/evil), and the visual/communicative aspect together. Its focus is the exploration of the intersection – and sometimes perhaps even clash – of religion, media, and crime. Thus, the issue takes discussions beyond mere questions of media representations of religious traditions or communities in relation with crime. Instead, for the upcoming issue, we are looking for contributions that understand religion, media, and crime as integral parts of a dynamic that provides insights into how societies operate today.

We encourage contributions analyzing the interaction between religion, media and crime from a range of disciplines and fields. Topics may include but are not limited to:

• Religious and media discourses related to the (de)criminalization of communities
• Mobilization of media and religion in social tensions
• Spiritual/theological arguments in social and media discourses about crime, innocence, justice, punishment etc.
• Constructions of crime and/or associated concepts through religious motifs in TV series, films, literature, music, or other media
• Religious actors, institutions and communities as sources or subjects of crime-related media narratives
• The role of religion and media in shaping public perceptions of victims, perpetrators, justice and punishment
• Representations of religious institutions in true crime and other crime-related media genres

 

The issue also includes an open section for articles on other topics related to the profile of the JRFM. The deadline for all submissions is 1 April 2027. Contributions should be between 5,000-6,000 words (including notes and references) and be submitted for double-blind peer-review through the journal homepage, www.jrfm.eu. We kindly ask authors to register and follow the instructions for submitting contributions. Manuscripts have to be formatted according to the JRFM’s style guide. Publication of this issue is scheduled for 15 May 2028. For any questions about the issue or possible contributions, please contact the issue editors: Dr. Adam Domalewski (adam.domalewski@amu.edu.pl), Dr. Stefanie Knauss (stefanie.knauss@gmail.com) or Dr. Alexander D. Ornella (alexander@ornella.at).

 

JRFM 2027, 13/2 (Nov 2027); Deadline submissions: 1 October 2026

Urbanity and Religion in Film

Iconic urban settings shape cinematic narration in unique ways. Landmarks like the Coliseum, the Forbidden City, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, or Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus in Mumbai serve not just as background to a film’s plot, but play their own part as expressions of cultural values, technical achievements, cultural exchanges and conflicts, or historical constellations. From drama to science fiction, from comedy to animation, from film noir to documentary, and also in productions that challenge any genre categorisation, urban centres are landscapes in which all kinds of narrative can unfold, ranging across all styles.

Cities appear in films and TV series as formations in which multiple places, cultural meanings, and social functions are interlaced, and people and groups interact in manifold ways. They assume symbolic values as a representation of the innermost world of characters, of power relationships, of hopes, desires, or disappointments. They foster cultural and technological progress, destruction and war, fragility of life and the end of the world.

Cinematic cities may refer to existing urban settings, highlighting concrete socio-political formations and dynamics. However, films can also unfold new imaginations of urban formation: utopias as well as dystopias are often developed as cities and explore the question of how urban formation may contribute to the ideal of the good life, or, vice versa, how cities can be transformed into hellish places of destruction and violence. Film depicts cities in dreams and nightmares, in otherworldly travels, as nostalgic reenactments of past communities or projections of futuristic high-tech cityscapes.

These manifold representations of urban phenomena in film are closely entangled with religious communities, institutions, traditions, practices, worldviews, or places. Cities provide the concrete material spaces in which religious institutions may be constructed and practices unfold, which on their part serve to symbolically and affectively enrich the filmic narratives.

In this JRFM issue, we explore the multilayered interactions between urbanity and religion in mainstream films, arthouse productions, TV series, or short films. Contributions may focus (among others) on the following topics:

• the role of religious communities and traditions in shaping filmic cities,
• the interrelation of urban and religious places and their functions in film,
• the cinematic representation of the entanglement of urban formations and ritual practices in diverse genres,
• processes of sacralisation of urban places in films, including natural elements within the city (vegetation, animals, water etc.),
• the representation of the tension between transcendent and immanent dimensions in urban practices,
• utopian and dystopian imaginations of urban formation in film in response to human and environmental existential needs and desires,
• the development of new cities and new religious practices in films.

The issue also includes an open section for articles on other topics related to the profile of the JRFM. The deadline for all submissions is 1 October 2026. Contributions should be between 5,000-6,000 words (including notes and references) and be submitted for double-blind peer-review through the journal homepage, www.jrfm.eu. We kindly ask authors to register and follow the instructions for submitting contributions. Manuscripts have to be formatted according to the JRFM’s style guide. Publication of this issue is scheduled for 15 November 2027. For any questions about the issue or possible contributions, please contact the issue editors: Prof. Dr. Stefanie Knauss (stefanie.knauss@gmail.com) and Prof. Dr. Daria Pezzoli-Olgiati (pezzoli@lmu.de).