New issues 12-13
Dear readers and authors of Apparatus!
We hope you all had a good start in the new year. Some maybe even had the opportunity to dance into 2022. The turn of the year gives us an opportunity to look back on 2021, which was quite eventful for both the Journal and our association DiGZ, e.V. which supports the journal.
Brand new is the Berlin issue on Soviet Estrada and Pop Music under the title Putting the Empire to Music. The Phenomenon of Vocal-Instrumental Ensembles (VIA). No. 13 (2021), edited by Clemens Günther and Christiane Schäfer.
The issue also includes an article by Patryk Babiracki which thematised the trips to Poland by the German-born photojournalist Lisa Larsen: “A Reframing of the 1950s: Poland and America through the Lens of Photojournalist Lisa Larsen”,
and a Video Lecture by Peter Bagrov and Anna Kovalova (in Russian) on Elizaveta Thiemann: “The Life and Strange Surprising Adventures of Elizaveta Thiemann, a Baroness Who Made Films, Played the Part of Alexandra L’vovna Tolstaia, Lived Fifty Years After Her Own Death, Died in Obscurity, But Came Back to Film History”.
In April 2021 "Pandemic Cinema in Central and Eastern Europe" (ed. by Raoul Eshelman, Mario Slugan, and Denise J. Youngblood) was published. "Pandemic Cinema" was the first edited collection to discuss such films as a genre internationally. The four articles deal with productions from Central and Eastern Europe, namely Germany, Poland, and Russia. The texts were written and edited during the Corona pandemic in Australia, the UK, Germany, the USA, and the Netherlands.
In No. 12, we introduced a new journal section and genre – Review Article, which may extend to the length of a regular article. We would like to kindly invite everyone to contribute to this new section and bring this genre to life.
In the summer, we upgraded our OJS software making the Journal more reader and citation friendly. However, we could not automatically transfer the “Object for Review” catalogue, and a manual transfer of book titles (with covers) exceeded our personal and financial capacities.
In Issue 13, we are introducing a new publication genre – Open Peer Review, Open Peer Commentary and Pre-Print, which should encourage a dialogue between colleagues in the field before the final version of a book is published. To this end, just a few days ago, we introduced a new Apparatus section – The Book Lab which includes excerpts from "Hidden Figures. Rewriting the History of Cinema in the Empire of All the Russias" by Natascha Drubek. Apparatus has published the introductory chapters of the first part and the conclusion of the book. The Book Lab contributions receive a DOI and can be cited as a pre-print. We welcome comments on this pre-print and plan to publish them in the form of an Open Peer Commentary. The first Open Peer Comment from Denise Youngblood has already been received. Anyone interested in participating in this laboratory is cordially invited to do so. Scholars at any stage of their career may contribute in the form of writing or commenting.
Just before Christmas, we were notified that Apparatus has received the 2022 Manifold Grant. Among other recipients are: Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art, Malaysian Institute of Art, Marbach Weimar Wolfenbüttel Research Association, Open Education Network and Public Books. This year-long grant will enable us to produce monographic publications in innovative ways.
We hope you enjoy reading about and listening to Soviet pop music and we wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year!
The editors of Apparatus
P.S. Donations to our association are possible and welcome since 2021, no matter how small or large. Should you be able to support our nonprofit association DiGZ (Gemeinnütziger Verein, Berlin) with a donation, you can use our account number at Postbank:
"Digitalen Zugang zu Wissen demokratisch gestalten e.V."
DE44 1001 0010 0936 4201 06.
Tax residents in Germany can deduct their donations to tax-advantaged organisations in their tax returns as special expenses. Upon request, DiGZ will gladly issue a donation slip (only necessary for sums above 200).
A big thanks to those who supported us in the past via Gofundme. It is still possible to donate here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/fund-new-issue-of-open-access-journal-apparatus
