In recent decades, animated worlds -in their multiple audiovisual and digital manifestations- have become consolidated as narrative spaces of high symbolic density, capable of renewing heroic figures without breaking with the traditions that sustain them. From classic heroines (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, 1984; Mulan, 1998) to contemporary antiheroes (BoJack Horseman, 2014-2020), animation, both in film and in television and video games, has proven to be a privileged laboratory for experimenting with archetypes, trajectories and dilemmas of heroism.

These worlds allow to imagine the impossible from universes that defy the logics of realism (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, 2023), but also to explore forms of heroism in scenarios closer to lived experience (Waltz with Bashir, 2008) or in liminal thresholds between reality and fantasy (La Tortue rouge, 2016).

The VIII International Congress Image and Recognition, entitled “Heroism in animated worlds: Figures, narratives and transformations of the hero in film, television and video games”, is proposed as a critical and multidisciplinary space to reflect on the metamorphosis of the hero in contexts of animation and virtuality. It is aimed at researchers in Film and Media History, Animation Studies, Audiovisual Narrative, Narratology, Comparative Literature, Aesthetics, Philosophy and Theology, as well as professionals in the field of animation and video games.

This congress seeks, more generally, to offer a humanistic and transdisciplinary look that explores the expressive power of the contemporary image as a way for the recognition of the human.

Thematic areas and methodologies

1. Genealogies, archetypes and transformations of heroic figures and their worlds. Research on the historical evolution of the hero and his world in cinematographic, television or digital animation. Studies on classical archetypes (the knight, the heroine savior, the trickster) and speculative worlds (utopias, dystopias, fantasy), as well as their transformations, hybridizations or contemporary parodies are welcomed. The line contemplates comparative, mythological, cultural or philosophical approaches.
2. Problematic heroism: antiheroes, vulnerability and animation for adults. Dedicated to the study of dissident, cynical or fragile heroic figures and the consistency of these characteristics in relation to their world. Contributions from narratology, moral psychology, cultural studies or critical aesthetics are valued.
3. Visual aesthetics and design of the animated hero. It explores the ways in which heroism is visually constructed in animation. Covers everything from concept art and character modeling to the distinctive visual styles of animated works. Analysis of transitions between media (manga-anime, comic-animation), aesthetic adaptations and creative processes in the industry. Study of how the visual environment conditions or reflects the heroic figure.
4. Video games, interaction and transmedia narratives. Analyzes heroic forms in video games and transmedia narrative universes. It considers proposals on the playable hero (avatar), the ethics of interactive control, persistent worlds and multiplatform franchises, and industrial and cultural studies on the logic of IPs and their narrative strategies.
5. Animated possible worlds and television seriality formats. This line includes studies on the construction of fictional universes in animated series and their relationship with television narrative formats. Proposals that analyze how seriality configures the figure of the animated hero, as well as his evolution, agency or ethical tension will be valued. Research on persistent worlds, complex temporal structures and the role of television in the consolidation of heroic archetypes in animated contexts will also be included.
6. Image and recognition (permanent line of the congress). Open to research that analyzes the expressive power of the animated image as a way for the recognition of the human, from hermeneutic, philosophical, anthropological or theological perspectives. This transversal line welcomes works that link heroic figure, visual poetics and experience of meaning in cinema, fiction series, video games and other arts.

Priority will be given to research that seeks an interdisciplinary dialogue between thematic areas and the humanities, especially insofar as the objects studied are presented to us as significant images in which to recognize our world and our way of inhabiting it.

Suggested methodologies

Theoretical or conceptualization studies. Approaches that develop analytical frameworks or critical categories applicable to the understanding of heroism, animation or the figure of the hero in audiovisual contexts.

Hermeneutic practices on poetic possible worlds. Philosophical, symbolic or mythopoetic interpretations that delve into the structure of meaning of animated narrative worlds.

Textual, aesthetic or close-reading analysis. Detailed study of specific works through filmic, narratological, visual or rhetorical analysis tools.

Case studies. Research focused on a specific text, author, character or phenomenon to illustrate broader processes.

Intermedial and transmedia analysis. Methods that explore the circulation of heroic stories between different media (cinema, television, video games, comics, social networks) and their resignification according to the format or channel.

Studies of reception and experience of the spectator or player. Empirical or phenomenological approaches to the way in which audiences relate to animated heroic figures, especially in video games or interactive environments.

Genealogy and ideological criticism. Methods derived from critical philosophy, conceptual history, or cultural studies that trace the ideological, political, or theological assumptions of heroic narratives.

Analysis of cultural imaginaries and archetypes. Symbolic or comparative approaches that connect animated characters to cultural, mythological, or religious traditions.

Production and industry studies. Research on processes of creation, circulation and legitimization of animated works, including the study of character design, animation studios or franchise logics.

Perspectives of comparative aesthetics or phenomenology of the image. Philosophical approaches that study the viewer’s sensitive experience of the animated image and its capacity to summon forms of symbolic recognition.

This congress accepts proposals for oral communications and academic video-essay proposals. Only proposals that meet the deadlines and formal requirements indicated in this call will be accepted. Authors are encouraged to review in detail the registration section and calendar in this call and to confirm it in the SIMUFV web page in case there are any updates.

The scientific committee, with a view to the subsequent publication of the results of the congress, will pay special attention to the following criteria:

• The relevance of the contribution in relation to the theme of the congress, with special emphasis on one of the six thematic areas.
• The scientific quality of the proposals and their possible impact on the training of communication professionals or on the professional flows of audiovisual production.
• The originality and novelty of the proposal.

At the end of the congress, the presenters will be eligible for the publication of their communication and the review of their video-essay in a monographic volume of the collection “Jano Comunicación y Humanidades” of Editorial Sindéresis, recognized with the SPI quality seal for specialized publications in Humanities and Social Sciences.

A book of abstracts will also be published in digital format by Editorial UFV with the corresponding digital ISBN.

Modalities of presentation

A. Oral communication

Authors are requested to send their oral communication proposals by means of a form on the conference website with the following data:

– Name and SURNAME.
– DNI.
– E-mail.
– ORCID number (if available).
– Affiliation (if any).
– A postal address, in case it is necessary to send certificates or publications.
– An abstract in Spanish, Portuguese, Italian or English of between 400-500 words, including: problem statement, purpose, methodology, results and expected conclusions. Care should be taken in the wording for publication in the book of abstracts.
– A list (three to five) of the sources to be used in Chicago format.
– A brief CV of 100-150 words.

B. Video-essay communication

Authors are requested to send their video-essay proposals by means of a form on the conference website with the following data:

– Name and SURNAME.
– DNI.
– E-mail.
– ORCID number (if available).
– Affiliation (if any).
– A mailing address, in case it is necessary to send certificates or publications.
– A presentation of the video with a length between 400-500 words, in Spanish, Portuguese or English.
– A brief list of sources used.
– A brief CV of 100-150 words.

The video-essays replace the physical attendance and should be thematically adjusted to the areas proposed in the call for papers. They can be in any language, always with English subtitles. Their duration should be around 10 minutes and never exceed 15 minutes. The video-essay must be hosted on the Google platform, with private access. It must include, in the first images, the author’s name, the title of the video-essay, as well as the name, the date, the title of the congress and its logo.

The reception of paper and video-essay proposals ends on January 18, 2026 at midnight; the registration to the congress can be done once the paper or video-essay is accepted by the scientific committee and always before February 2, 2026. The deadline for sending the URL with the final video-essay and the password to access it is February 15, 2026.