Presentation

As the aesthetic practices of human thinking, the arts inalienably integrate into (and even when their creators may have striven after neutrality) social and political life, which, in turn, is driven by the dynamism of the powers and the institutions that they serve. We know very well, and throughout human history, how these powers (economic, political, religious) have always drawn deeply, and with great appreciation, on the diverse forms of artistic expression as a fundamental means of their own affirmation. Seeking to understand the relationships between art and power implies reflecting on certain inherent questions:

Does art play a merely instrumental function (as propaganda or ideological valuation) conforming to the strategies of power or does art have its own effective power in the world? Are artistic practices and even to the extent of proving absolutely useless (however much they challenge) for triggering changes either in the political or the power games, or does art have the capacity to take an independent stance as a genuine counterbalance? In the contemporary space-time, do the technological and communication revolutions and the globalisation of politics, markets and the very relationships between humans impact on the means of artistic creativity? Does it still make sense (or is it increasingly the case) to perceive the arts, given the powers prevailing, not as some form of goods but as an irreplaceable spiritual force?

The Journal of Communication & Culture is accepting original articles across various fields of knowledge on the following and related topics:

•     Historical contextualisations of the relationships between art and power
•     Relationships between aesthetics, ethics and power
•     The role of the arts in the construction of powers
•     Art, ideology, propaganda and censorship
•     Arts, iconoclasts, counter-powers
•     Institutional arts and fringe arts
•     The power of "artistic" institutions (academies, patrons, museums, networks, galleries, publishers, markets): their role and effect on artistic creativity
•     Art in a global political and cultural society
•     What can art do?

Communication & Culture is  a peer-reviewed transdisciplinary Journal, published biannually by the Research Centre for Communication and Culture, of the School of Human Sciences of the Catholic University of Portugal.

We are currently inviting submissions for the 15thissue, on the theme of "Art and Power".

Coordination:

Jorge Vaz de Carvalho

Articles can be written in Portuguese, English or Spanish.

Articles are due by 30thNovember 2012.

Presentation of articles:

All articles corresponding to the demands and standards of the Journal of Communication & Culture are submitted to double blind peer review.

Articles should be spaced at 1.5 throughout the entire text and should not exceed a maximum of 40,000 characters, including notes and bibliography, an abstract of between 100 and 150 words and a maximum of six keywords.

Please send your article annexed to an email addressed to comunicultura@fch.lisboa.ucp.pt and including your telephone number.