№ 1(63); 2(64) 2026: Special Issues “Visual Media Communication” (#2) and “Applied Media communications in Culture»
Guest Editors:
Marina V. Zagidullina, Professor, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Department of Media Theory, Chelyabinsk State University
Svetlana I. Simakova, Professor, Doctor of Philological Sciences, Department of Media Production, Chelyabinsk State University
In the contemporary landscape, the visual image is no longer regarded merely as a reflection of reality or an artistic statement. Across diverse scholarly disciplines, it is increasingly recognized as an autonomous and potent instrument for constructing meaning, transmitting cultural codes, and shaping value systems. From the design of everyday objects to neural network-generated imagery, visual communication permeates every sphere of human life, demanding a novel, integrative approach from researchers.
The objective of this special issue is to conceptualize visual media communication as a legitimate and central object of cultural inquiry. We invite scholars to treat the image as a complex cultural text necessitating semiotic, anthropological, and historical-cultural analysis. Key questions guiding this inquiry include: How are traditional spiritual and ethical values transmitted through visual language? What cultural codes—ethnic, urbanistic, historical—are encoded within the aesthetics of everyday life, and how are they decoded by different generations? Furthermore, how do emerging technologies, ranging from generative AI to digital immersion, transform our perception of classical heritage and engender new forms of visual culture?
This issue aims to serve as an interdisciplinary forum for dialogue among cultural theorists, media scholars, sociologists, linguists, philologists, and humanities researchers united by an interest in the visual. Beyond documenting the current state of visual media communication, we seek to elucidate its genesis, trace the evolution of visual languages, and identify the key mechanisms that translate abstract ideas into tangible imagery. Emphasis will be placed on methodological frameworks and research approaches specific to this domain.
Suggested Topics for Submission:
Theory and Methodology: Visual media communication as an object of cultural analysis; semiotics and structural analysis of the visual; the potential and limitations of multimodal discourse analysis; methodologies for identifying and describing the non-verbal metalanguage of culture.
Values and Identity: The representation of traditional spiritual and ethical values in the contemporary media landscape; visual strategies for constructing national identity; ethno-symbolism and cultural codes in branding and design.
History and Modernity: The evolution of visual codes in art and literature; the reception of legacy media texts by digital-native audiences; archives and libraries as transmitters of visual culture.
Technologies and Practices: New media and neural network technologies in the cultural sphere: challenges and prospects; the aesthetics of everyday life as visual media communication (packaging design, urban environments); digital narration and the visual language of emerging generations.
We invite researchers to engage in a critical discussion on how cultural heritage is produced, preserved, transmitted, and transformed in an era of global visualization. What role does the visual play in intergenerational dialogue and social consolidation? And how can we learn to “read” contemporary visual texts with the same depth and rigor that we apply to verbal texts?
