CFP: The Handbook of Religion and Transmedia Storytelling
Call for Papers
Chapter Contributions for Handbook on Religion and Transmedia Storytelling
From the recitation of Vedic hymns and the illuminated manuscripts of the Qur’an, to the dramatic retelling of mythological epics such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata, the illustrated Mesoamerican codices, and the medieval miracle tales of saints’ supernatural interventions, religious storytelling has always found expression through an evolving constellation of media forms.
Printed texts, sculptures, stained glass windows, ritual performances, devotional music, and later, radio broadcasts, fiction films, televangelism, and digital apps have extended and transformed spiritual narratives to meet the cultural needs of different historical periods, going even beyond what has traditionally been understood as “religious.” Yet despite the centrality of media diversity in transmitting and reinterpreting religious, mythological, or supernatural stories, the transmediality of religious narratives has rarely been examined systematically.
The Handbook of Religion and Transmedia Storytelling: From Antiquity to the Digital Age is an interdisciplinary project that will fill this gap by merging perspectives from religious studies and media studies, highlighting the importance of mediation, materiality, and lived practice in understanding spiritually-infused storytelling across history and cultures. Applying a transmedial approach, it will examine a variety of media forms through which religious, mythological and supernatural narratives have circulated and been experienced – from oral storytelling, ritual performance, manuscript culture, visual arts, drama, print literature, comics, film and television, to digital media. Our aim is to bring together case studies from around the world – spanning Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas – in order to reveal how transmedia practices have been embedded in both historical and transcultural religious contexts.
Thus, to partake in this interdisciplinary endeavor, we invite scholars across disciplines, including religious studies, media studies, cultural studies, literary studies, narrative studies, anthropology, and political science. We particularly welcome proposals that focus on a wide range of traditions and cultural contexts, including Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Indigenous traditions, Afro-diasporic religions, and esotericism. We also encourage contributions that examine phenomena at the intersections of religion and broader cultural domains, for example conspiracy theories, speculative fiction, nonfiction paranormal narratives, and apocalyptic narratives.
Confirmed contributors
Prof. Sissel Undheim, University of Bergen (ancient religion; gender and sexuality studies in Late Antiquity; didactics of religion; religion in popular culture)
Dr. Shubha Pathak, American University, Washington, DC (comparative epics; religion and literature; political/psychological approaches to epic poetry; metaphor and metonymy in religious studies)
Dr. Zhinia Noorian, Utrecht University (Islamic mysticism; Persian literature and poetry)
Dr. Zsolt Györegy, University of Oslo (religious and political translation in colonial South America)
Prof. Ben Arps, Leiden University (Javanese/Indonesian languages and literatures; Southeast Asian Islam; orality and narrative culture)
Dr. Bisharat Ali Lanjwani, University of Sindh (labor rights; political economy and governance; international relations; regional politics of Sindh)
Dr. Pei-ling Huang, National Taiwan University (ethnomusicology; South Asian music traditions; Sufi devotional music)
Dr. Sjoerd-Jeroen Moenandar, University of Groningen (applied narratology; storytelling; border narratives; life writing)
Dr. Steven Willemsen, University of Groningen (film and media studies; narrative studies and narratology; arts and cognition; empirical aesthetics)
Dr. Fryderyk Kwiatkowski (film and television studies; cultural studies; philosophy of culture; esotericism; religion and technology)
The volume is structured into sections corresponding to broad historical categories, and we are especially interested in contributions that will fit into one of the following sections:
- antiquity;
- post-classical;
- modern (excluding the twentieth century)
Thus, topics may include, but are not limited to:
- transmission and transformation of sacred stories through different communication forms (e.g., oral, written, visual);
- material mediation in religious practice (e.g., relics, icons, talismans, ritual objects) and their role in storytelling, examining continuities and changes from ancient traditions to the modern era);
- reception and adaptation of religious narratives in popular culture (e.g., drama, literature, comics);
- storytelling in religious contexts (e.g., pilgrimages, rituals, community performances) across different historical epochs, and their evolving media environments;
- case studies of mythologies evolving across time and media;
- indigenous and marginalized religious traditions and their media ecologies;
We aim to have the volume published in a reputable handbook series, either Oxford or Routledge, in order to ensure broad academic impact.
Submission guidelines
Each chapter should:
Be approximately 6,000–8,000 words;
Engage religious studies, narrative studies and transmedia studies (in no particular order);
Be accessible to an interdisciplinary, global student readership without sacrificing scholarly rigor.
Please submit an abstract of no more than 300 words, keywords, a short author biography (up to 150 words), and a 2-page CV. Abstracts are due by May 10, 2026, with notification of acceptance by June 7, 2026. Full chapters are expected by December 31, 2026. Submissions and any inquiries should be sent to fkwiatkowski@agh.edu.pl.
We look forward to reading your submissions!
Dr Fryderyk Kwiatkowski, AGH University of Krakow
Dr Sjoerd-Jeroen Moenandar, University of Groningen
Dr Steven Willemsen, University of Groningen
Fryderyk Kwiatkowski