Call for Papers for the year 2026
The first issue of Poligrafi Journal in 2026 will be dedicated to traditions of sounds and practices connected to the sacred and the spiritual. This idea emerged during a discussion by members of the International Council for Traditions of Music and Dance’s Sacred and Spiritual Sounds and Practices Study Group at a symposium held in Istanbul in October of 2024. A special issue of this nature would facilitate exposure to a diversity of emerging and engaging research that explores individual traditions through solid theoretical constructs, parallels between the traditions discussed, and new orientations involving ethics and listening, for example.
Sacred belief systems, religious and spiritual doctrines and traditions, and their means of expression have a significant impact on understandings of boundaries between musical and non-musical phenomena, and between acceptable and unacceptable sound, music, movement, and dance practices in various spatial and temporal contexts. Key components for identity maintenance in ritual contexts, in contemporary times, their fluidity and intersectionality often engender new developments and practices that can blur and blend the sacred and the secular, and in the process deepen our understanding of religion and spirituality.
The terms “sacred” and “spiritual” effectively differentiate between formally structured, institutional devotional traditions and the non-institutional, non-organizational aspects of the multi-dimensional construct spirituality where the transformational, affective potential of individual experiential needs is at the forefront and the boundaries between the sacred and the secular often dissolve. Expressed through the domains of sound, music, and movement, sacred and spiritual world views, ideologies, and rituals can also serve as powerful tools to ameliorate individual, group and community experiences of socio-political repression, migration, diasporic and immigrant/refugee concerns. Suitable research frameworks, essential for their understanding, include precolonial, colonial, and postcolonial environments on a war-peace continuum, and contemporary movers and sites of innovation.
We warmly call for submissions of original papers considering the above-mentioned aspects of the connections between religion and/or spirituality and sound practices. We also invite you to propose new directions in the study of sacred and spiritual sounds and practices that refine and broaden its scope and traditional methodologies.
We ask that you submit your papers by September 30th, 2025, through our Open Journal System.
The proposed length of submitted articles is approximately 30.000 characters with spaces (the maximum limit being 45.000), or around 6.000 words (but not more than 9000), including bibliographies. Articles should follow the journal’s style guidelines, which include use of the Chicago Manual of Style’s “Notes and Bibliography” system of referencing. Submissions will be subjected to a peer-review process and assessed by the journal’s editorial board.
Authors should provide an abstract (no more than 200 words) of the submitted article with 5-7 keywords, and also a brief bio (not exceeding 150 words) stating academic interests, expertise, and affiliation, if applicable.
If you have questions or concerns, please contact the members of the editorial team.
We look forward to your submissions.
All best,
The editorial team:
Dr. Irene Markoff, Dr. Maja Bjelica, Dr. Christian Poske, Dr. Christiane Strothmann
