Animation and Contemporary Media Culture. Challenges and Potentials of Animation Studies in the Digital Era

• Applicant: Dr. Maike Reinerth
• Subject Area: Theatre and Media Studies
• Term: from 2020 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 445673884

Animation is pervasive: in apparent illusions and invisible effects on film and TV, as moving information on electronic billboards in urban spaces, in the interactive interfaces of smartphones and ticket vending machines, in user-generated, reused, or shared content on social-media and video platforms. However, research on animation in German-speaking countries is still very isolated and lacking institutional infrastructure. As a result, approaches to animation have neither nationally nor internationally been recognized to the extent that the relevance of their subject matter would suggest, and their potential contribution to current discourses in media and cultural studies has therefore often been ignored.The scientific network aims to address these shortcomings by facilitating the systematic proliferation and internationalization of animation studies from German-speaking countries. Its research program works towards the following main goals:I. an ongoing exchange between emerging and established German-speaking and international academics that focuses on pressing questions in animation, media and cultural studies (regarding, in particular, digitalization, media convergence, and globalization);II. the elaboration of animation studies’ transdisciplinary potentials;III. increasing the quality, timeliness, and visibility of animation research by German-speaking academics and expanding its reach into the international community;IV. developing strategic measures to aid the consolidation and recognition of animation studies within academia.The network will approach goals I–III in five thematic sections that tackle central issues in animation research:A. Theory/Philosophy,B. Aesthetics/Analysis,C. History/Present,D. Technology/Application,E. Production/Distribution/Archiving.Specific research questions will systematically combine these topics. Their discussion will draw and reflect on the multimethodical approaches that have characterized the study of the quite heterogeneous field of animation so far, taking into account its transmediality, transnationality, and transdisciplinarity. The fourth, strategic goal will be pursued through peer-reviewed, English-language publications, the organization of research workshops, participation in other academic events, and developing further applications for third-party funding.The network thus offers a space for goal-oriented, academic exchange on key areas and questions of animation studies. Additionally, it aims to increase the international visibility of existing and emerging research activities from German-speaking countries. Due to the pervasive nature of its subject matter and the integrative research approach, it can also be expected that the outcomes contribute to transdisciplinary discourses on the current challenges of (media-)cultural transformations.

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks