[I-LanD Research Centre] Call for Papers I-LanD Journal - Special Issue (2026, n. 1): "The Politics of Emotions: Discourse, Media, Digital Spaces"

Mon Jan 19 16:37:17 UTC 2026

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I-LanD Journal - Identity, Language and Diversity
International Peer-Reviewed E-Journal

Call for Papers for Special Issue (1/2026)
The Politics of Emotions: Discourse, Media, Digital Spaces

Guest editors: Alexandra Palau (Université Bourgogne Europe), Denis Jamet-Coupé (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3) and Alma-Pierre Bonnet (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3)

Call for papers
This special issue of the I-LanD Journal aims to reflect on the use of emotions in political discourse, be it in actual legislative assemblies, among the 'chattering classes' on conventional media, or on digital platforms. The objective is to explore the discursive and visual dimensions of emotional levers that drive political dynamics and the practice of citizenship in today's world. The ambition is to compare methodologies and corpora from different linguistic and cultural areas in order to understand, for example, the role of emotions in the emergence of new forms of protest and in the communication strategies of current forms of populism. How do emotional structures inform group identities? To what extent do they shape collective representations? What discursive and rhetorical devices are used to convey emotions in politics, and is it possible to measure their influence? These avenues for reflection invite us to also analyse the interactions between institutional and non-institutional players. Focusing on the 21st century, several research topics can be envisaged.

A non-exhaustive list would include the following (proposals in English or in French are welcome):
* The role of emotions in political discourse, against the backdrop of a crisis of representativeness. What are the emotional drivers used by institutional players to persuade citizens? How are conflicting emotions incorporated into the communication strategies of populist and extremist parties?
* The emotional strategies of citizen protest or disobedience movements in contemporary public spaces. To what extent do collective emotions help build the identity of protest movements and establish new collaborative practices and forms of political engagement?
* The role of emotions in traditional media and digital media discourse. The aim is to explore the link between emotional dynamics and the construction of identity through the analysis of the digital and visual strategies implemented by political actors and/or protest movements. What are the new emotional markers in the digital sphere - hashtags, emoticons, short messages, videos, etc.? How do they contribute to the formation of emotional communities? How can digital tools reinforce or reduce emotional polarisation? The contribution of multimodality seems fundamental, and semiotic studies - as well as studies of images and other visual representations - will be more than welcome.

If interested, please send an abstract (500 words including references) simultaneously to:
* Alexandra Palau Alexandra.Palau at u-bourgogne.fr<mailto:Alexandra.Palau at u-bourgogne.fr>, Université Bourgogne Europe, France
* Denis Jamet-Coupé denis.jamet-coupe at univ-lyon3.fr<mailto:denis.jamet-coupe at univ-lyon3.fr>, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France
* Alma-Pierre Bonnet alma-pierre.bonnet at univ-lyon3.fr<mailto:alma-pierre.bonnet at univ-lyon3.fr>, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, France

Important dates
* Submission of abstracts to guest editors: by 28 February 2026
* Submission of chapters to guest editors: by 24 July 2026
* Submission of proofs to contributors: by October 2026
* Submission of final manuscript: by December 2026

More about the I-LanD Journal

Editors in chief:
Giuditta Caliendo (University of Lille) and M. Cristina Nisco (University of Naples Parthenope)

Advisory board:
Giuseppe Balirano (University of Naples L'Orientale)
Marina Bondi (University of Modena and Reggio Emilia)
Delia Chiaro (University of Bologna)
David Katan (University of Salento)
Don Kulick (Uppsala University)
Tommaso Milani (University of Gothenburg)
Margaret Rasulo (University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli")
Paul Sambre (KU Leuven)
Srikant Sarangi (Aalborg University)
Christina Schäffner (Professor Emerita at Aston University)
Vivien Schmidt (Boston University)
Stef Slembrouck (Gent University)
Marina Terkourafi (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
Girolamo Tessuto (University of Campania "Luigi Vanvitelli")
Johann Unger (Lancaster University)

The I-LanD Journal (https://i-land-researchcentre.eu/i-land-international-journal/) reflects a commitment to publishing original and high-quality research papers addressing issues of identity, language and diversity from new critical and theoretical perspectives. All submissions are double-blind peer-reviewed. In fulfillment of its mission, the I-LanD Journal provides an outlet for publication to international practitioners, with a view to disseminating and enhancing scholarly studies on the relation between language and ethnic/cultural identity, language and sexual identity/gender, as well as on forms of language variation derived from instances of contamination/hybridization of different genres, discursive practices and text types.

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