[CFP] International One-day Conference “Narrative Journalism, Crises and Comics” (Clermont-Ferrand, FR, 12 November 2026)

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION
12 November 2026
Maison des Sciences Humaines – Clermont-Ferrand (France)
Organisation: Ailton Sobrinho (CELIS/UCA) & Virginie Giuliana (CELIS/UCA)
Crises—whether climatic, geopolitical (armed conflicts), economic, health-related or social—constitute a central focus of journalistic coverage. In response to such events, the various forms of journalism, from factual reporting to investigative journalism, including literary journalism, develop a wide range of writing practices and narrative devices to account for reality and convey its complexity.
These different modes of journalistic coverage are notably distinguished by their narrative strategies and by the forms of engagement (aesthetic, media-related and editorial) they mobilise. Narrative journalism, described as a “hybrid model between journalism and literature” (Vanoost, 2016), particularly interrogates the boundaries between subjectivity and factuality, thereby opening up new perspectives on the representation of crises.
Graphic reportage, for its part, can be combined with each of these journalistic modalities and offers a renewed form of information mediation. At the intersection of journalism and visual creation, it brings together, within panels, investigation, testimony, information and visual representation.
Having experienced significant editorial growth in recent years, comics journalism has now established itself as a non-fiction genre and offers an alternative to mainstream media (Koch, Preyat, Turnes, 2023). This development can be explained, among other factors, by a growing interest in hybrid narrative forms, as well as by the recognition of comics as a medium of information, much like mooks— “publications halfway between a magazine and a book”—which implement a model of narrative journalism (Vanoost, 2017). This tradition, however, is rooted in a longer genealogy dating back to the nineteenth century, when drawing already served as a means of documenting reality, notably through illustrated reportage and caricature (Chute, apud Koch, Preyat, Turnes, 2023).
“Panel-based journalism” thus deploys alternative forms of mediating reality. As part of this one-day conference, organised within the framework of the COST Action COS-MICs (Comics and Sciences Through Multidisciplinary Investigation and Collaboration – CA24160), we will focus more specifically on the treatment and narrative construction of crises through these hybrid forms, which renew both journalistic practices and modes of information reception. In this context, we invite contributions exploring the relationships between literary (narrative) journalism, crises and comics, bringing together theoretical and methodological approaches around the following themes:
- Hybridisation of forms: comics and narrative journalism
- Mooks, narrative journalism and comics: editorial transformations
- Representing crises in comics: a journalistic and artistic endeavour
- Investigation and narrative journalism: immersion and storytelling within panels
- Graphic reportage as a writing of reality in times of crisis
Within each of these themes, proposals may examine the relationship between text and image, the reporter’s stance in covering crises, as well as the modes of reception of these productions. They may also address issues related to investigation and the narrative construction of reality, forms of hybridisation between information and graphic creation, editorial transformations (particularly in the context of mooks), questions of ethics and journalistic legitimacy, as well as the mediating effects specific to comics, considered from a journalistic-literary perspective. Contributions may further explore current digital transformations, which are shifting reportage towards new transmedia formats. Particular attention may be paid to the ethical questions raised by graphic journalism (dark journalism, slow journalism, etc.) for audiences immersed in a continuous media flow.
Submission guidelines
Proposals (in French or English, 300–600 words), accompanied by a short biographical note including institutional affiliation, should be submitted via the following form:
https://forms.gle/BgyfFvAyn4yrn5iZA
Timeline
– Submission deadline: 29 May 2026
– Notification of acceptance: 19 June 2026
Languages: French and English
Format: In-person participation
For any enquiries, please contact the organisers at: jnetbd2026@gmail.com
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Virginie Giuliana (April 29, 2026). [CFP] International One-day Conference “Narrative Journalism, Crises and Comics” (Clermont-Ferrand, FR, 12 November 2026). COS-MICs. Retrieved May 11, 2026 from https://cosmics.hypotheses.org/2210