Page - 125 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 04/01

125 JRFM 2019, 5/2 CALL FOR PAPERS Apocalypse and Authenticity Ours is a time of crises: in political discourses, in the context of medicine and ecology, in newspaper coverage, and in what seems an obsession with cata- strophic end-of-the world scenarios in popular culture, TV, and film. At the same time, society seems to be concerned with and long for authentic- ity and a return to something lost, a return to a truer version of ourselves. But this longing is often disappointed by the uncovering that what seems authentic is often very carefully and artificially crafted. Religion – broadly understood – is deeply intertwined in both these social discourses. Biblical imagery of the apocalypse continues to be repurposed in popular media today. But in its original biblical sense, the apocalyptic event was thought to uncover and reveal the truth. While in popular media, the term “apocalypse” is often used in an entirely different way, maybe the original bibli- cal meaning can help us understand some of the contemporary phenomena. The JRFM issue will feature select articles from the Apocalypse & Authenticity conference that took place at the University of Hull in July 2017 as part of the conference series of the Theology, Religion, and Popular Culture Network. In addition to select conference papers, the JRFM journal would like to ex- tend a Call for Papers on either the topic of the apocalypse, or the topic auf authenticity, or on the apocalypse and authenticity. The issue also has an open section for articles on other topics linked to the pro- file of JRFM. The deadline for submissions is 1 September 2018. Contributions of 25,000-30,000 characters (including spaces) should be submitted online for peer review through the journal homepage www.jrfm.eu. We kindly ask authors to register. Publication is scheduled for November 2019. For questions regard- ing the call for papers or the submission and publication process, please contact the JRFM office manager (natalie.fritz@kath.ch).