Calls for Papers (CFP)

JNT welcomes submissions of individual papers, as well as proposals for guest-edited special issues.

Every third issue of JNT is a special issue, which is edited by a guest editor and covers a specific topic relating to narrative. Read about our mission and what we publish here.

Information and instructions for guest editors can be found here.

Proposals for special issues can be sent to JNT@emich.edu. These proposals should offer a brief description of what the proposed special issue would look like and be about; information such as potential contributors and specific focuses within the scope of the topic the issue would seek to explore would also be be helpful. For reference, see the proposal for CFP Special Issue Bodies Objects Agents

JNT Special Issue 57.3 CFP

-To submit for this special issue, please contact jnt@emich.edu or dhanesh.m@christuniversity.in

Title: Narratives and Storytelling Cultures in Contemporary Times
Every society is shaped by the stories it tells and the storytelling cultures through
which those stories circulate. Some societies privilege narratives grounded in
scientific rationality and empirical logic, while others draw upon myths, folklore,
memory, spirituality, or fantasy. Yet across cultures, narratives remain central to the
ways human beings interpret reality, negotiate identity, and organize social life.
Storytelling is never neutral; narratives are deeply political in the ways they construct
truth, authority, belonging, and exclusion.
Narratives are inseparable from the cultural conditions in which they emerge. They
are shaped by questions of who tells a story, to whom it is addressed, how it is
narrated, where it circulates, why it is produced, and what kinds of social, cultural, or
political effects it generates. Storytelling cultures therefore reflect the values,
anxieties, aspirations, and normative structures of particular societies. In many ways,
they participate in defining what counts as “truth” within a given historical and cultural
moment.
In contemporary times, storytelling practices are undergoing profound
transformations. The emergence of large language models, AI-algorithmic systems,
digital platforms, and globally networked media environments has altered both the
production and circulation of narratives. Stories now move continuously between
physical and digital spaces. Narratives are increasingly mediated by machines,
algorithms, and transnational flows of information, giving rise to new forms of
authorship, audience participation, cultural memory, and ideological influence.
This special issue seeks to explore the shifts happening in narratives and storytelling
cultures in the contemporary era. It invites contributions that examine how narratives
are created, circulated, contested, and transformed across literary, cinematic,
cultural, digital, visual, and social contexts