Call for contributions for a thematic issue

From writing on temples to the digital age:  The means of dissemination and construction of history

Abstract:

The journal Revue d' Histoire Méditerranéenne is issuing a call for contributions for a thematic issue devoted to the means of disseminating and constructing history, from writing on temples to the digital age. This issue explores how the means of disseminating information have influenced, through the ages, the way history is told, transmitted and interpreted. By combining historical approaches with information and communication sciences, this issue aims to analyse the interactions between communication and historical dimensions across all historical periods, from the earliest times to the present era. This thematic issue seeks to examine the dialectic between mediums of dissemination and the construction of history, highlighting the continuities and ruptures between eras.

Coordination of the issue:

  • Abdelouhab MAKHLOUFI (University of Bejaia, Algeria)
  • Ali KHARDOUCHE (University Paris city Sorbonne, France)
  • Hakim IDIRENE (National Center for Archaeological Research, Tipaza, Algeria)
  • Yamine BOUDHANE (Faculty of arts and sciences, University of Qatar, Qatar)
  • Settar OUATMANI (University of Bejaia, Algeria)

Rationale:

History, as a narrative of past events, has always been inseparable from the available means of dissemination. From inscriptions on ancient temples to digital social networks and artificial intelligence, each era has developed specific tools to record and transmit historical knowledge. Inscriptions on temples, steles, and clay tablets were used to record important events, laws, and mythological narratives. These mediums, though fragile and costly, ensured a certain permanence of information. Thanks to alphabetic writing and parchment, the Greeks and Romans were able to develop more elaborate historical accounts. Herodotus, often considered the “father of history”, used oral and written sources to compose his Histories, a narrative that blends facts and legends (Hartog, 2001). However, the dissemination of these texts remained limited to an educated elite, as manuscript copies were a slow and costly process.

Historical narratives in Antiquity were often instrumentalised to legitimise power or promote moral value. Thucydides, in History of Peloponnesian War, sought to establish precise facts, but his account was also tinged with political considerations (Loraux, 1980). Similarly, in his History of Rome, Titus Livius used the past to glorify Rome and justify its expansion. These accounts, although critical, were intended for an elite audience and served to reinforce the authority of the rulers. As Paul Veyne (1971) demonstrated in Comment on écrit l'histoire, ancient history was above all a narrative construction aimed at persuading or edifying.

The invention of the printing press by Gutenberg in the 15th century marked a communication revolution. Printed books, which were cheaper and more numerous, enabled a wider dissemination of historical narratives, contributing to the emergence of a collective historical consciousness. Elizabeth Eisenstein (1979) highlighted how this was possible in The Printing Press as an Agent of Change.

With the industrial era, the means of communication diversified: photography, film, radio, and television transformed the way history was told and perceived. Marshall McLuhan (1964), in Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man analysed how these more visual and immersive media altered our relationship with information and history.

The advent of the digital age has revolutionised modes of dissemination. The Internet, social networks, and digital platforms now enable the instantaneous and global dissemination of information. Andrew Hoskins (2017), in Digital Memory Studies, explores how digital technology transforms our relationship with the past by allowing everyone to contribute to the construction of history.

The digital age has not only transformed the way history is studied, documented, shared, and taught, but it has also created new types of historical events and challenges for historians. It offers unprecedented opportunities for access to information and collaboration, democratisation of knowledge (Digital Archiving, Online Libraries, Open Access), new research methods (Digital Humanities, Mapping and GIS, Big Data), documentation of history in real time (social media and social networks, Citizen journalism), transformation of historical events ( Digital Revolutions, Cyberwarfare and Disinformation), collective narratives and memories (Participatory History), globalization of history (Global Perspectives, Comparative History), while raising complex questions about the authenticity and interpretation of historical data.

Thematic Axes:

Contributions may fall within one of the following axes while combining historical and communication approaches:

Axis 1: Mediums of dissemination and the construction of the historical narrative

  • How do mediums (inscriptions on temples, clay tablets, papyrus, parchments, printed materials, social networks) influence the way history is told and perceived?

Axis 2: The democratization of access to historical information

  • How have the means of dissemination evolved to make history accessible to a wider audience?
  • What are the challenges related to the credibility and reliability of sources in the digital age?

Axis 3: Memory issues and the construction of collective memories

  • How do mediums of dissemination influence the formation and transmission of collective memories?
  • What roles do monuments, inscriptions, and social networks play in the construction of memory?

Timeline  and submission terms:

April 15, 2025: Deadline for submission of article proposals in one of the five languages of the journal, of approximately (3,000 characters, including spaces),  indicating  the name(s) of the author(s), institutional affiliation(s), and email address (es), to the following address: rhm@univ-bejaia.dz

April 20, 2025: Notification of the decision by the scientific committee.

September 30, 2025: Deadline for submission of articles via the Algerian scientific journal’s platform (ASJP) through this link:

https://asjp.cerist.dz/en/PresentationRevue/605

Publication of the issue of La Revue d’Histoire Méditerranéenne, Volume 07, Issue 02, December 2025.

For more information on publication guidelines and submission procedures, click on the journal’s page on the University of Bejaia website or on the journal’s page on the ASJP website.

Director and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal:

Pr. AIT MEDDOUR Mahmoud

Chair of the Scientific Committee:

Pr. OUATMANI Settar.

Scientific Committee:

AILLET Cyrille (U. Lumière, Lyon 2). AISSANI Djamil (U. of Bejaia), AIT HABOUCHE Hamid (U. of Oran). AIT HASSOU Mohamed (U. Cadi Ayyad. Marrakesh. Maroc). BAIZIG M. Salah (U. of Tunis). BALA Sadek (U. of Bejaia). BAKHOUCHE Zoheir (U. de Guelma) BISHOP Elizabeth (Texas State University San Marcos). BOUAZZA Boudersaia (U. of Algiers2). CHAFOU Redhouane (U. of El Oued). CHAIB Kedadra (U. of Guelma). CHAMI Tarik (U. of  Bejaia)CHOUITAME Arezki (U. of Algiers 2). FARADJI M. Akli (U. of Bejaia). GALLORO Pierro ( Université of Lorraine, France). GREVIN Benoît (EHESS, Paris). GUENFISSI Hayette (U. of Bejaia). HADIAlWASH Huda (U. of Baghdad). HALAILI Hanifi (U. of S. Bel Abbés). HACINI Aicha ( U. of Bouira). HANAFI Aicha (U. of Algiers2) JADLA Brahim (U. Menouba, Tunis). KINZI AZZEDINE (U. of T. Ouzou). LOVEJOY Paul (U. of Toronto, Canada). MAKHLOUFI Abdelouhab (U. of Bejaia) . MAUREL Chloé (U. PLS of Paris). MEGROUS née MEHENTEL Djahida (Université of Algiers 2). MERAH Aissa ( U. of Bejaia) Mous Latéfa (U. Oran 2).  NAILI Abdelkader (U. of Djelfa). REMILI Nedjma, née SERRADJ (Université of Algiers 2). SAIDI Meziane (ENS of Bouzaréah, Algiers).  SALEM Merouane (U. of Diyala, Irak.). SALIH Achraf (University of Ibn Rushd-Netherlands). SIDALI AHMED Messaoud (U. of M’sila). TIDJET Mustapha (U. of Bejaia). TLEMCANI Ben Youcef (U. of Blida). VALERIAN Dominique (U. of Paris 1 Panthéon – Sorbonne). MAUREL Chloé (U. PLS of Paris)

Editorial Committee:

CHOUIMET Ali (U. of Bouira. Algeria) , FOURALI Yasmine(U. of Bouira. Algeria),   KHAROUNI TOUCHE  Nouara (U. of Bejaia. Algeria),  LAHOUEL Tassaadith. (U. of Bejaia. Algeria) , MAZRI Sabrina (U. of Bejaia. Algeria). MERDJAA Aicha (U. of Bejaia. Algeria),  TIDJET Mustapha. (U. of Bejaia. Algeria),  ZERKAOUI Nourdine. (U. of Bejaia. Algeria)

 

References:

  • Certeau, M. de (1975). L’Écriture de l’histoire. Paris : Gallimard.
  • Eisenstein, E. (1979). The Printing Press as an Agent of Change. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press.
  • Hartog, F. (2001). Le Miroir d’Hérodote. Paris : Gallimard.
  • Hoskins, A. (2017). Digital Memory Studies. New York : Routledge.
  • Le Goff, J. (1977). Pour un autre Moyen Âge. Paris : Gallimard.
  • McLuhan, M. (1964). Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man. New York : McGraw-Hill.
  • Trouillot, M.-R. (1995). Silencing the Past: Power and the Production of History. Boston : Beacon Press.
  • Veyne, P. (1971). Comment on écrit l’histoire. Paris : Seuil.