Aims and scope of the journal

Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook is a peer-reviewed international yearbook started in 2002 and dedicated to studies of film and media. Each yearbook is devoted to a specific theme. In addition, every volume may include articles on other topics as well as review articles. The yearbook wants to further interdisciplinary studies of media with a special emphasis on film, television and new media. Since the yearbook was founded in Scandinavia, the editors feel a special obligation towards Scandinavian and European perspectives.

But in a global media world it is important to have a global perspective on media culture. The yearbook is therefore open to all relevant aspects of film and media culture: We want to publish articles of excellent quality that are worth reading and have direct relevance for both academics in the broad, interdisciplinary field of media studies in both humanities and social sciences and for students in that area. But we also want to appeal to a broader public interested in thorough and well-written articles on film and other media.


Call for Submissions
Northern Lights: Film & Media Studies Yearbook is published once a year and the publication has the form of a book-length anthology of articles related to a specific theme, but also with articles outside the theme. The editor is always open to receiving submissions. Articles should not exceed 8000 words, should contain references and bibliography and must include an abstract of no more than 150 words. All articles submitted should be original work and must not be under consideration by other publications.

Already published

The themes covered so far in the yearbook can be seen from the following list:

Volume 1 (2002): Realism and Reality in Film and Media

Dedicated to the representation of reality in film, TV and new media - a question of new importance in modern film and media, where a new wave of realism has dominated cinema and reality-TV became a mass phenomena on both TV and the internet. Eleven articles by Danish, British and American film and media researchers focus on two sub-themes: 'Film and Realism' deals theoretically with film realism and analyses classic films and modern Danish Dogma films; 'Documentary Forms, Reality TV and New Media' treats new forms of non-fiction film, TV and on the Internet in a both theoretical and historical perspective. Authors: Ib Bondebjerg, Anne Jerslev, John Corner, Torben Grodal, John Ellis, Johannes Riis, Birger Langkjær, Arine Kirstein, Stig Hjarvard and John Caldwell.

Volume 2 (2003): Media in a Globalized Society

Concerned with the ways in which media take part in processes of globalization, including how they challenge existing cultures and create new and alternative symbolic and cultural environments. The volume addresses these questions through theoretical discussions and re-examination of existing international research and through a series of individual empirical studies covering global media phenomenon like the Olympics, the talk show, international beauty contests, satellite television and media discourses on national culture. Authors: Stig Hjarvard, Daniel Biltereyst, Henrik Søndergaard, Hanne Bruun, Kirsten Frandsen, Norbert Wildermuth, Kevin Robins.

Vol 3 (2004): Visual Authorship: Creativity and Intentionality in Media

A collection of essays offering a new approach to the study of authorship. The contributors point out that individual creativity is essential in the richly-faceted media landscape of today. Individual creativity and the role of authorship are discussed in relation to film, television, computer games and the Internet. Theories of cognition and emotion offer new tools for the understanding of visual aesthetics; they explain why works of art are created by individuals and not by discourses and ideologies. Several contributors analyse in detail the works of Lars von Trier. Authors: Torben Grodal, Casper Tybjerg, Patrick Colm Hogan, Johannes Riis, Peter Schepelern, Birger Langkjær, Bente Larsen, Iben Thorving Laursen and Espen Aarseth.

Volume 4 (2006): European Film and Media Culture

Dedicated to the study of European film and media in general and gives a view of the general political and historical development of European media as well as case studies of European film and European television. In focus here are the problems related to national media cultures in a European and global context. Some of the articles discuss the American film and media as the general common culture all over Europe and the lack of a transnational European counterpart. The case studies cover both case studies of Turkey, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, England and Hungary. The articles focus on different genres like popular European art films, television fiction-series, children's television, game shows, reality-series and more. Authors: Miyase and Christian Christensen, Miguel Angel Casado, Katalyn Lustyik, Sonja de Leeuw, Andreas Fickers, Dave Sinardet, Hilde van den Bulck, Helle Kannik Hastrup, Ib Bondebjerg, Peter Schepelern and Lennard Højbjerg Hansen.

Vol 5 (2007): Digital Aesthetics and Communication

Examines how media proliferate and migrate across new technological devices in an ongoing digital revolution. This involves changing aesthetics as well as refigured communication patterns. Among the questions raised for current scholars as well as for media practitioners are the following: are 'new media' new in a more fundamental way than previous media? How are players coming to produce the computer games they play, and how does this phenomenon relate to the economic logic of Web 2.0? How are statesmen and women dressing up their websites, and do these sites add to our democracies? To what extent and in which ways are media converging? These are just some of the questions discussed in this volume, which collects contributions from: Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Arild Fetveit, Ib Bondebjerg, Adam Arvidsson, Kjetil Sandevik, Niel Brügger, Kristine Jørgensen, Gitte Bang Stald, Jay Bolter, Lev Manovich.

Volume 6 (2008): The Mediatization of Religion: Enchantment, Media and Popular Culture

Focuses on the interconnectedness of popular culture, media and religion and discusses the role of media in the possible (re-)enchantment of cultural experiences. Popular culture provides an important source for a variety of popular religious beliefs, and media industries actively seeks to develop religious-like bonds to audiences in the form of fan cultures, brand communities etc. Furthermore, both old and new religious movements and beliefs have found new ways to reach their congregations through digital media. Due to the expanding role of the media system religion has become mediatized. While late modernity in general is characterized by the spread of rationality, the popular culture of the media may be a growing source of enchantment. This volume includes contributions from Stig Hjarvard, Graham Murdock, Torben Grodal, Casper Tybjerg, Ryan G. Hornbeck, Justin L. Barrett, Line Nybro Petersen, Christopher Partridge, Helle Kannik Haastrup, Lynn Schofield Clark, Ehab Galal and Lars-Martin Sørensen.

Volume 7 (2009): Film, Media & Politics

This issue deals with documentary films, democracy and the war on terror, media coverage of the falling of the Berlin Wall, the role of online media in elections and politics, political news in a cross media perspective, feature films and politics in Europe and media events and international politics. Volume editors: Ib Bondebjerg and Jens Hof.

Volume 8 (2010): Newspapers and Journalism in Transition: The Printed Press as a Cultural and Political Resource in Contemporary News Landscapes

The 2010 volume of Northern Lights focuses on the function of the printed press as a cultural and political resource, at a time when extensive changes to both the market structure and journalistic content of newspapers entail large-scale consequences for the press, as well as for the public in general.

Volume 9 (2011): Media and Crime: Fiction and Journalism

This issue focuses on the relationship between media and crime. Since the modern, urban breakthrough, mediation of crime has been a crucial factor in determining how crime is perceived within the public sphere. It has enabled a dissemination of the discussion on moral and ethical issues from the few enlightened to the many. Crime is the central point of an extensive production of fiction in books, films, TV series and games. Crime is also one of the most popular subjects of journalism, mediated in newspapers and electronic media, not least the Internet. On this background, the concept of mediatization can be considered as a term apt to designate the new relationship between media, crime and society.

Volume 10 (2012): Re-thinking Film and Media Production: Creativity, Convergence and Participation

The 2012 volume of Northern Lights focuses on the renewed interest in film and media production. In recent years there has been a shift across a broad field of media and cultural studies from primarily devoting attention to the finished product, oeuvre or reception to also considering production practices. On the one hand, technological changes in the modes of production and distribution have caused a blurring of boundaries between media consumers and producers. On the other hand, concurrent with a heightened awareness of the project-based nature of work in creative industries, a scholarly interest in creative collaborations, choices and constraints as well as institutional contexts have emerged. New empirical topics along with new theoretical and analytical tools have gained ground within film and media research in response to this development. Areas of studies such as ‘screenwriting', ‘creativity' and ‘convergence culture' are appearing, just as familiar theoretical keywords like ‘production aesthetics' and ‘cultural production' are being rethought. Acknowledging that the conditions of production have a great impact on the framework for reception, production analysis and theory may pave the way for new insights into the aesthetical, technological, ethical, ideological, political and economical aspects of film and media.

Volume 11 (2013): Age, Generation and the Media

Volume 12 (2014): New Media Talk

Volume 13 (2015): Books and Publishing in a Digital Age

Volume 14 (2016): Television Drama in the Age of Media Convergence

Volume 15 (2017): Political Communication in Networked Societies

Politics and political communication take place in an increasingly networked, multi-level environment. At the same time, small and large societies alike share major political challenges. Topics such as migration, terrorism and climate change are increasingly discussed on global media networks and through personal and social media, creating new connections, new constellations of actors and new dynamics in our systems of political communication. The articles in this volume of Northern Lights tackle these changes and challenges in political communication from diverse perspectives and with different methods. Volume editors: Eli Skogerbø and Risto Kunelius.

Volume 16 (2018): Surveillance Through Media, by Media, in Media

Journal contributors will receive a free PDF copy of their final work upon publication. Print copies of the journal may also be purchased by contributors at half price.