In our pursuit of our mission, we want contributors to steer clear of what the philosopher Harry Frankfurt aptly labeled "bullshit,” which is characterized by its “lack of connection to a concern with truth.” While we don’t hold to simplistic notions of truth, many scholars regrettably treat theory as a mere exercise in producing pseudo-profundity, jargon, unfalsifiable pronouncements, or opportunities to provide a veneer of radicalism over conventional center-left politics.
A lot of theory seems to involve branding oneself by producing new terms that sound cool, but which, when thought about further, prove either truisms, obviously false, or simply incoherent. Academic bullshitting advances because the people asserting often don’t really care if it is true or not or don’t have a really concrete idea about what it means. All that matters to many scholars is whether what they’ve written sounds evocative and can get published.
This journal is fundamentally opposed to this careerist genre of writing.
Instead, we want contributions that make coherent arguments for which the author provides evidence. Basically, we want folks to write as clearly as they can, without oversimplifying or simply marshaling authorities, but actually making a case for whatever it is they are arguing.
Contributors should also note that readers will come from a range of different disciplinary backgrounds and are therefore unlikely to be able to follow texts which are too dense with unexplained disciplinary jargon. We will accept most recognized academic methodologies. But, again, we want the argument to marshal evidence and be potentially falsifiable.
As noted above, analyses of metamodernity are admissible, but one needs to make the case for why the culture-forms under analysis share the cluster of properties being analyzed. So, if you want to identify all the current films that seem to be playing with sincerity or post-irony, that is fine, but you need to make a case for why the films share this cluster of properties (e.g., the thing that made Jameson’s account of postmodernism so compelling is that he attempted to ground postmodern art and literature as the product of late stage capitalism).
Submissions should be provided in MS Word or an MS Word compatible file, in 12 pt text in either Times New Roman or Garamond. Your submission should include the following information on the first page.
- Title: Include a working title of the paper or article.
- Type: Specify the type of work being submitted (e.g., research article, poetry, etc.).
- Personal Info: Include full names and any organization or institutional affiliations, with emails and phone numbers of the authors of the submission. When more than two authors collaborate on a submission, arrange the names in the order of contribution. (Note: we do not discriminate against people without PhDs.)
- Abstract: Write a one paragraph (250 words) summary of your submission.
- Keywords: Include up to 5 keywords that offer a general idea of the main concepts/topics of your paper.
- Previous publication & copyright transfer: Describe if the submission has been distributed elsewhere in some form, and if so, where.
- Funding: Specify whether your submission was/is/would be funded, and by whom.
- Research ethics: Where a submission includes direct research on people or animals, please give a brief explanation of research ethics. Where information included in your work may identify individuals, we will ask for your informed consent documentation.
All submissions can be sent to [email protected].
(Image Credit: Jared Morningstar)