[Discussion] CFP: The Pornographic Imaginary (grad) (1/15/05; journal issue)

[Sule Tarakcioglu]

Call for Papers (Graduate Students)

THE PORNOGRAPHIC IMAGINARY: SEX, VIOLENCE, COMMERCE, CULTURE

The fierce debates that erupted in the 1980's over the production,
distribution and consumption of pornography look to many today to be
terribly dated, sealed off (thankfully?) in another era: we've been
there and done that. The slow recession of pornography as that which
incites thought and contestation in theoretical circles has occurred,
paradoxically, as the aesthetics and logics and narratives and economies
of pornography have proliferated all around us. Pornographic visual
tropes have migrated fully and almost indistinguishably into the worlds
of fashion and advertising. Pornographic logics and narratives have
become embedded in, and to a large extent possibly structure almost
entirely, the sexual desires and practices of millions. So too do they
configure the images of imperial occupation (e.g. Abu Ghraib) and
resistance (e.g. beheading videos). Pornographic hyperconsumption has
been facilitated by technological revolutions which in turn has created
a massive multi-billion dollar globalized pornographic economy to meet
the exploding demand. Porn stars have become Pop stars, and Pop stars
have become Porn stars. It is a pornographic age; and that which defines
our time deserves our continued attention.

We do not seek to rekindle or rehash the so-called "sex wars" over
pornography, but we do look forward to thinking anew and thinking again
about the pornographic imaginary that today shapes sexual pleasures
(heteronormative and sexually dissident), regimes of violence (domestic
and imperial), political economies (psychic and material), and cultural
productions (of all sorts). We welcome a wide range of submissions that
deal with this topic.

We also welcome book reviews on any topic within the orbit of political
and cultural theory, whether related or unrelated to the issue's theme.

Papers should be no more than 30 pages; reviews, no more than 10. All
submissions are due by
JANUARY 15, 2005 to the following address:

Critical Sense
c/o Department of Political Science
210 Barrows Hall
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-1950

or electronically: criticalsense@socrates.berkeley.edu
http://criticalsense.berkeley.edu



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